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Catalyst Sd Wan ManagerApplication · Cisco

CVE-2022-20716

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-04-15
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 20.6.1 / 20.7.1 or later.
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 SD-WAN Software could allow an authenticated, local attacker to gain escalated privileges. This vulnerability is due to improper access control on files within the affected system. A local attacker could exploit this vulnerability by modifying certain files on the vulnerable device. If successful, the attacker could gain escalated privileges and take actions on the system with the privileges of the root user.

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 exists in Cisco SD-WAN Software's CLI due to improper access controls on certain system files. An authenticated local attacker can modify these unprotected files to gain root-level privileges, allowing full system compromise with root access.

MitigationApply the vendor-supplied security patch or upgrade to a fixed version of Cisco SD-WAN Software. Restrict local CLI access to trusted personnel and monitor for unauthorized file modifications.

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
Catalyst Sd Wan ManagerApplication
Affected:all versions
Sd Wan SolutionApplication
Affected:all versions
Sd Wan Vbond OrchestratorApplication
Affected:all versions
Sd Wan Vedge CloudWeb browser
Affected:all versions
Sd Wan Vedge RouterWeb browser
Affected:all versions
Sd Wan Vsmart Controller SoftwareApplication
Affected:all versions
Sd WanApplication
Affected:>= 18.4, < 20.6.1>= 20.7, < 20.7.1

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 Cisco SD-WAN product
    Run 'show version' or check the system documentation to determine which SD-WAN component is running (vManage, vBond, vEdge, vSmart)
    Affected if The product is any of: Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Manager, Cisco SD-WAN Solution, Cisco SD-WAN Vbond Orchestrator, Cisco SD-WAN Vedge Cloud, Cisco SD-WAN Vedge Router, or Cisco SD-WAN Vsmart Controller
  2. Determine the software version
    Execute 'show version' in the CLI to obtain the installed software version number
    Affected if The version falls within these ranges: >= 18.4 and < 20.6.1, OR >= 20.7 and < 20.7.1 (note: some products are affected at ALL versions)
  3. Verify local CLI access exists
    Confirm the system has local CLI access enabled and check for user accounts with CLI login permissions
    Affected if Local CLI authentication is enabled and non-privileged user accounts exist on the system
  4. Check for unauthorized privilege escalation indicators
    Review system logs and audit files for unusual sudo, su, or file permission changes to system files in /etc or similar directories
    Affected if Evidence exists of file modifications to system configuration files by unexpected users or processes

A system is affected if it runs any Cisco SD-WAN product version within 18.4 to <20.6.1 or 20.7 to <20.7.1, or any version of the fully-affected product line (vManage, vBond, vEdge, vSmart), and has local CLI access available to authenticated users.

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
Upgrade available Upgrade to 20.6.1 / 20.7.1 or later
Fixed in 20.6.120.7.1
Interim mitigation

Apply the vendor-supplied security patch or upgrade to a fixed version of Cisco SD-WAN Software. Restrict local CLI access to trusted personnel and monitor for unauthorized file modifications.

Fix this in Catalyst Sd Wan Manager Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
14.0 hours of engineering $2,480
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,968.

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-2022-20716 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