dbcve.org
Ios XeOperating system · Cisco

CVE-2022-20681

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-04-15
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
80/100
Remediation priority · High
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 IOS XE Software for Cisco Catalyst 9000 Family Switches and Cisco Catalyst 9000 Family Wireless Controllers could allow an authenticated, local attacker to elevate privileges to level 15 on an affected device. This vulnerability is due to insufficient validation of user privileges after the user executes certain CLI commands. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by logging in to an affected device as a low-privileged user and then executing certain CLI commands. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary commands with level 15 privileges on the 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 IOS XE CLI allows authenticated low-privileged users to execute arbitrary commands with full admin (level 15) privileges due to insufficient validation of user privileges after executing certain CLI commands.

MitigationApply the vendor patch from Cisco for affected IOS XE software versions. Coordinate a maintenance window to upgrade Cisco Catalyst 9000 switches and wireless controllers to a patched version.

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
Ios XeOperating system
Affected:= 16.11.1= 16.11.1a= 16.11.1b= 16.11.1c= 16.11.1s= 16.11.2= 16.12.1= 16.12.1a= 16.12.1c= 16.12.1s= 16.12.1t= 16.12.1w

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
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/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 IOS XE version
    Execute 'show version' in the CLI and locate the version string in the output (typically contains 'Version 16.x.x')
    Affected if The displayed version matches any of these: 16.11.1, 16.11.1a, 16.11.1b, 16.11.1c, 16.11.1s, 16.12.1, 16.12.1a, 16.12.1c, 16.12.1s, 16.12.1t, 16.12.1w
  2. Confirm the product is Cisco IOS XE
    In the 'show version' output, verify the software description contains 'IOS XE' rather than classic IOS
    Affected if The software is confirmed as Cisco IOS XE and the version matches the affected list in step 1
  3. Verify low-privileged user accounts exist
    Execute 'show users' or 'show privilege' while logged in as a non-admin user to confirm low-privilege accounts are configured
    Affected if Any user with privilege level below 15 (non-level 15) has CLI access to the device
  4. Check for vulnerable command execution paths
    Review configuration for any command aliases, parser macros, or custom CLI extensions that may trigger the privilege escalation condition; use 'show running-config | include' commands to identify non-standard CLI behaviors
    Affected if The device has non-standard CLI configurations accessible to low-privilege users that could bypass privilege validation

The environment is affected if the device runs Cisco IOS XE version 16.11.1 through 16.12.1w and low-privileged (non-level 15) authenticated users 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.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Apply the vendor patch from Cisco for affected IOS XE software versions. Coordinate a maintenance window to upgrade Cisco Catalyst 9000 switches and wireless controllers to a patched version.

Fix this in Ios Xe Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation3.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
11.0 hours of engineering $1,950
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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-2022-20681 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