dbcve.org
Telepresence Video Communication ServerApplication · Cisco

CVE-2022-20814

HIGH · 7.4 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-11-15
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
83/100
Remediation priority · High
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
A vulnerability in the certificate validation of Cisco Expressway-C and Cisco TelePresence VCS could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to gain unauthorized access to sensitive data.  The vulnerability is due to a lack of validation of the SSL server certificate that an affected device receives when it establishes a connection to a Cisco Unified Communications Manager device. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by using a man-in-the-middle technique to intercept the traffic between the devices, and then using a self-signed certificate to impersonate the endpoint. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to view the intercepted traffic in clear text or alter the contents of the traffic. Note: Cisco Expressway-E is not affected by this vulnerability.Cisco has released software updates that address this vulnerability. There are no workarounds that address this vulnerability.

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

This vulnerability in Cisco Expressway-C and TelePresence VCS allows a man-in-the-middle attacker to intercept SSL connections to Cisco Unified Communications Manager by presenting a self-signed certificate. The affected devices fail to properly validate the SSL server certificate, enabling the attacker to impersonate the endpoint and view or modify traffic in clear text.

MitigationApply the Cisco software updates that address this vulnerability. There are no workarounds available.

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
Telepresence Video Communication ServerApplication
Affected:= x8.1= x8.1.1= x8.1.2= x8.2= x8.2.1= x8.2.2= x8.5= x8.5.1= x8.5.2= x8.5.3= x8.6= x8.6.1

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
Network
Complexity
High
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
None

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

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 Cisco Telepresence VCS version
    Log into the VCS administrative interface and navigate to Overview page, or run 'xStatus' command via CLI to display the software version
    Affected if The displayed version matches any of these: x8.1, x8.1.1, x8.1.2, x8.2, x8.2.1, x8.2.2, x8.5, x8.5.1, x8.5.2, x8.5.3, x8.6, x8.6.1
  2. Identify the installed Cisco Expressway-C version
    Log into the Expressway-C admin interface and check the version under System > About, or use CLI command 'show version'
    Affected if The installed version falls within the same affected x8.x range listed for VCS and matches the specific vulnerable versions
  3. Verify SSL/TLS connectivity is enabled
    Check the VCS/Expressway-C configuration under Maintenance > Security or Traversal zone settings to confirm TLS/DTLS is enabled for communications with Cisco Unified Communications Manager
    Affected if TLS or DTLS is enabled, which is required for the certificate validation flaw to be exploitable
  4. Confirm the device communicates with Cisco Unified Communications Manager
    Review the VCS/Expressway-C neighbor zone configuration or dial plan to identify if it has a connection to a CUCM instance
    Affected if A neighbor zone or traversal client connection to CUCM exists, as this is the attack vector where the improper certificate validation occurs

You are affected if your Cisco Telepresence VCS or Expressway-C version matches any of the listed x8.1 through x8.6.1 versions AND the device uses TLS/SSL to communicate with Cisco Unified Communications Manager.

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
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Apply the Cisco software updates that address this vulnerability. There are no workarounds available.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Upgrade to Cisco TelePresence VCS / Expressway-C version x8.3 or later (fixed release)

  1. Identify the current installed version of Cisco TelePresence VCS or Cisco Expressway-C by accessing the administration interface or using the CLI command 'xstatus version'
  2. Download the fixed software version from the Cisco software download page (software.cisco.com) or obtain it through your Cisco smart account
  3. Upload the new software image through the administration interface under Maintenance > Upgrade option, or use the CLI 'upgrade' command
  4. Verify the upgrade completes successfully and the system restarts
  5. Confirm the new version is installed by checking the version information again
Caveat Review Cisco release notes for version x8.3 for any configuration or behavioral changes before upgrading

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

Fix this in Telepresence Video Communication Server 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 help mitigating

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

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2022-20814 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

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-2022-20814 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

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