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StarosOperating system · Cisco

CVE-2022-20665

MEDIUM · 6.7 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-04-06
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 21.22.n6 / 21.23.n7 or later.
See remediation →
69/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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
A vulnerability in the CLI of Cisco StarOS could allow an authenticated, local attacker to elevate privileges on an affected device. This vulnerability is due to insufficient input validation of CLI commands. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending crafted commands to the CLI. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary code with the privileges of the root user. To exploit this vulnerability, an attacker would need to have valid administrative credentials on an affected device.

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 · high confidence

A local privilege escalation vulnerability in Cisco StarOS CLI allows an authenticated administrator to execute arbitrary code with root privileges due to insufficient input validation of CLI commands.

MitigationApply the Cisco-provided patch for StarOS when available, and ensure administrative credentials are tightly controlled and monitored.

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
StarosOperating system
Affected:< 21.22.n6>= 21.23.0, < 21.23.n7

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
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
High
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/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 if the system is running Cisco StarOS
    Access the CLI prompt and run 'show version' or check the CLI banner/startup output for StarOS indicators
    Affected if The system is not running Cisco StarOS, then it is not affected
  2. Determine the installed StarOS version
    Execute 'show version' or 'show software' in the StarOS CLI to retrieve the exact version number
    Affected if Unable to retrieve a version number, version detection is inconclusive
  3. Compare version against the first affected range
    Check if the version is less than 21.22.n6. The notation 'n6' refers to a specific sub-version patch - compare your version string against this threshold
    Affected if Version is < 21.22.n6, the system is affected
  4. Compare version against the second affected range
    Check if the version is >= 21.23.0 AND < 21.23.n7. The notation 'n7' refers to a specific sub-version patch - compare your version string against this range
    Affected if Version is >= 21.23.0 and < 21.23.n7, the system is affected
  5. Verify administrative CLI access exists (context check)
    Confirm that authenticated administrator access to the StarOS CLI is available. This vulnerability requires an authenticated administrator session to exploit
    Affected if No authenticated administrator CLI access exists, the exploitation vector is not present though the software version may still be vulnerable

The system is affected if it runs Cisco StarOS with a version in the range < 21.22.n6 OR >= 21.23.0 and < 21.23.n7, and an authenticated administrator can access the CLI.

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 21.22.n6 / 21.23.n7 or later
Fixed in 21.22.n621.23.n7
Interim mitigation

Apply the Cisco-provided patch for StarOS when available, and ensure administrative credentials are tightly controlled and monitored.

Recommended fix High confidence

StarOS 21.22.n6 or later, or 21.23.n7 or later

  1. 1. Identify the current StarOS version by running 'show version' or 'show software' in the CLI
  2. 2. Determine if the current version is affected: versions < 21.22.n6 OR versions >= 21.23.0 and < 21.23.n7
  3. 3. If affected, schedule a maintenance window for the upgrade
  4. 4. Download the fixed StarOS release (21.22.n6 or later, or 21.23.n7 or later) from Cisco using valid credentials at tools.cisco.com
  5. 5. Follow Cisco's standard StarOS upgrade procedure: upload the new image, verify integrity, and reboot the system
  6. 6. After upgrade, verify the new version is running with 'show version'
  7. 7. Confirm the vulnerability is remediated by ensuring the running version is >= 21.22.n6 or >= 21.23.n7
Caveat Standard StarOS upgrade risks apply - ensure proper backups and configuration export before upgrading; plan for brief downtime during reboot

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

Fix this in Staros Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
10.0 hours of engineering $1,750
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,800.

Scan for this in your stack

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dbcve dependency scanner

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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-2022-20665 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