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N6854a FirmwareOperating system · Keysight

CVE-2022-1660

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-06-02
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 2.4.0 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
The affected products are vulnerable of untrusted data due to deserialization without prior authorization/authentication, which may allow an attacker to remotely execute arbitrary code.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · moderate confidence

The vulnerability stems from insecure deserialization of untrusted data without any authentication requirements, allowing remote attackers to execute arbitrary code by injecting malicious serialized payloads.

MitigationImplement proper authentication/authorization checks before deserialization and switch to safer serialization formats (e.g., JSON) with input validation, or implement whitelisting for allowed classes if native serialization is required.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
N6854a FirmwareOperating system
Affected:< 2.4.0
N6841a Rf FirmwareOperating system
Affected:< 2.4.0

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify the Keysight device model
    Locate the physical device or check system inventory for Keysight N6854a or N6841a hardware. This vulnerability affects only these two specific models.
    Affected if The system is a Keysight N6854a or N6841a device.
  2. Determine the installed firmware version
    Access the device management interface or use the vendor-provided firmware version check command/tool. Typical methods include the device web UI, CLI, or API endpoint that reports firmware version.
    Affected if The firmware version cannot be determined or the device is running an older firmware version.
  3. Compare firmware version to the affected range
    Check if the installed firmware version is less than 2.4.0. Compare the installed version number (e.g., 2.3.x, 2.2.x, 1.x) against the threshold of 2.4.0.
    Affected if The installed firmware version is below 2.4.0 (e.g., 2.3.5, 2.2.0, 1.8.2).
  4. Verify if unauthenticated deserialization is accessible
    Determine if the affected deserialization interface is exposed to network access without requiring authentication. This may involve checking network exposure or service configuration.
    Affected if The network service handling serialized data is accessible without authentication.

The environment is affected if it contains a Keysight N6854a or N6841a device running firmware version lower than 2.4.0 with unauthenticated access to the deserialization interface.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 2.4.0 or later
Fixed in 2.4.0
Interim mitigation

Implement proper authentication/authorization checks before deserialization and switch to safer serialization formats (e.g., JSON) with input validation, or implement whitelisting for allowed classes if native serialization is required.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Firmware version 2.4.0 or later for N6854a and N6841a

  1. 1. Identify the current firmware version of the N6854a or N6841a device by accessing the device management interface or checking system information
  2. 2. Navigate to the vendor's official support or downloads page for the N6854a/N6841a hardware
  3. 3. Download the firmware version 2.4.0 or later from the vendor's official source
  4. 4. Review the vendor's firmware upgrade documentation for any specific prerequisites or procedures
  5. 5. Apply the firmware update following the vendor's recommended upgrade process (typically via web UI, CLI, or dedicated upgrade tool)
  6. 6. After upgrade, verify the device is running firmware version 2.4.0 or higher
  7. 7. Confirm the vulnerability is resolved by validating the device operates normally
Caveat Firmware upgrades may temporarily disrupt device operation; ensure upgrade is performed during maintenance window and follow vendor backup procedures

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in N6854a Firmware Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation12.0 h
  • Implementation24.0 h
  • Testing12.0 h
  • Review / QA8.0 h
56.0 hours of engineering $9,960
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $15,936.

Scan for this in your stack

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2022-1660 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data