Cisco has issued software patches for multiple versions of firmware used in some of its IP phones after discovering two vulnerabilities affecting six of its products. The first vulnerability (CVE-2023-20078) impacts the 6800 series, 7800 series, and 8800 series phones running the company’s multiplatform firmware.
It is a serious vulnerability with a CVSS score of 9.8, resulting from insufficient validation of user-supplied input, which can enable an attacker to send a malicious request to the phone’s web-based management interface. If exploited, an unauthenticated remote attacker can execute arbitrary operating system commands with root privileges.
The second vulnerability (CVE-2023-20079), which has a CVSS score of 7.5, affects the same phones as well as the United IP conference phone 7900 series, 8831 series, and 8831 with multiplatform firmware.
Like the first, this vulnerability arises from inadequate input validation in the web-based management interface. If exploited, an unauthenticated remote attacker can force a device reload, causing a denial-of-service.
Both vulnerabilities impact multiplatform firmware versions prior to 11.3.7SR1. Unfortunately, the affected United IP conference phones are already end-of-life, and the vulnerabilities will not be patched. The vulnerabilities were discovered through internal security testing.