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Unified Communications ManagerApplication · Cisco

CVE-2022-20804

MEDIUM · 6.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-04-21
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 14.0 or later.
See remediation →
70/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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
A vulnerability in the Cisco Discovery Protocol of Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Unified CM) and Cisco Unified Communications Manager Session Management Edition (Unified CM SME) could allow an unauthenticated, adjacent attacker to cause a kernel panic on an affected system, resulting in a denial of service (DoS) condition. This vulnerability is due to incorrect processing of certain Cisco Discovery Protocol packets. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by continuously sending certain Cisco Discovery Protocol packets to an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause a kernel panic on the system that is running the affected software, resulting in a DoS condition.

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

A vulnerability in Cisco Discovery Protocol processing in Cisco Unified Communications Manager and Unified CM Session Management Edition allows an unauthenticated, adjacent attacker to cause a kernel panic by sending specially crafted CDP packets, resulting in denial of service.

MitigationApply the Cisco patch for this vulnerability; until patched, consider network segmentation to limit adjacent attacker access to the affected systems.

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
Unified Communications ManagerApplication
Affected:<= 14.0

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

CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/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 installed product
    Run 'show version' or check the system dashboard to confirm the product name is Cisco Unified Communications Manager (CUCM) or Unified CM Session Management Edition (SME)
    Affected if The product is not CUCM or CUCM SME
  2. Check the CUCM version
    Run 'show version' or access the Cisco Unified OS Administration console to retrieve the installed version number
    Affected if The version is 14.0 or lower (any version <= 14.0)
  3. Verify Cisco Discovery Protocol status
    Run 'show cdp neighbor' or access the Cisco Unified Serviceability interface to check if CDP is enabled on the affected interfaces
    Affected if CDP is enabled and running on any interface
  4. Assess network exposure
    Review the network topology and VLAN configuration to determine if untrusted adjacent attackers can reach the CUCM system
    Affected if The CUCM system is on a network segment accessible to untrusted adjacent attackers

A system is affected if it is running Cisco Unified Communications Manager or CUCM Session Management Edition version 14.0 or lower with Cisco Discovery Protocol enabled, and the system is accessible to adjacent attackers on the same network segment.

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 a release after 14.0
Interim mitigation

Apply the Cisco patch for this vulnerability; until patched, consider network segmentation to limit adjacent attacker access to the affected systems.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Cisco Unified CM 14.0(1) SU3 or later (or 14.0(2) if available for your deployment)

  1. 1. Identify the current Unified Communications Manager version by accessing the Cisco Unified CM Administration interface and navigating to the About page
  2. 2. Review the Cisco Security Advisory for CVE-2022-20804 at tools.cisco.com to confirm the specific fixed version for your deployment type (Unified CM or Unified CM SME)
  3. 3. Plan maintenance window as the upgrade will require system downtime
  4. 4. Back up the Unified CM database and configuration using the Disaster Recovery System (DRS)
  5. 5. If running Unified CM version 14.0, upgrade to version 14.0(1) SU3 or later by accessing the Cisco Software Download page and obtaining the appropriate .iso file
  6. 6. Install the upgrade via the Unified CM Operating System Administration interface or command line using the command: utils system upgrade /var/software/upgrade.iso
  7. 7. Verify the installation completed successfully and the system is operational
  8. 8. Confirm the version now shows the patched release
Caveat Upgrade requires downtime; ensure backup and maintenance window are planned; some post-upgrade functionality checks may be required

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

Fix this in Unified Communications Manager Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
24.0 hours of engineering $4,160
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $6,656.

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-2022-20804 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