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Sd Wan Vbond OrchestratorApplication · Cisco

CVE-2022-20818

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-09-30
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 20.9 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
Multiple vulnerabilities in the CLI of Cisco SD-WAN Software could allow an authenticated, local attacker to gain elevated privileges. These vulnerabilities are due to improper access controls on commands within the application CLI. An attacker could exploit these vulnerabilities by running a malicious command on the application CLI. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary commands as 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

Multiple vulnerabilities in the CLI of Cisco SD-WAN Software allow an authenticated local attacker to execute arbitrary commands as root due to improper access controls on privileged CLI commands. The attacker must have valid credentials to access the device CLI, then exploits the flaw to escalate privileges from their authenticated session to root-level execution.

MitigationApply the Cisco-provided software update/patch for CVE-2022-20818. Until patched, limit CLI access to trusted personnel only and monitor for suspicious command execution.

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
Sd Wan Vbond OrchestratorApplication
Affected:< 20.9
Sd Wan VmanageApplication
Affected:< 20.9
Sd Wan Vsmart ControllerApplication
Affected:< 20.9
Sd WanApplication
Affected:< 20.9

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. Check installed SD-WAN software version
    Log into the CLI and run the command 'show version' or 'show software' to display the installed version. For vManage, you can also check via the web UI under Administration > Software Repository.
    Affected if The displayed version is any release prior to 20.9 (for example 20.6.x, 20.7.x, 20.8.x).
  2. Identify the specific SD-WAN component
    Run 'show system identity' or 'show vedge-cloud info' (for vEdge hardware) to determine whether the device is a vBond Orchestrator, vManage, vSmart Controller, or vEdge router, as all four component types are affected.
    Affected if The device runs any affected component type with version < 20.9.
  3. Verify CLI user access controls
    Review the local user configuration by running 'show users' and 'show running-config | include username' to see which accounts have CLI access and their privilege levels.
    Affected if Any local user account exists on the system (the vulnerability allows any authenticated user to escalate to root).
  4. Check for unauthorized root sessions
    Run 'show processes cpu history' or 'show system resources' to look for unexpected high-privilege processes. Review any logged sessions for commands run by non-admin users that should not be accessible to them.
    Affected if Evidence exists of commands executed outside the expected privilege scope for a given user account.

You are affected if your Cisco SD-WAN vBond Orchestrator, vManage, vSmart Controller, or vEdge device runs software version earlier than 20.9 and has user accounts with CLI access.

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 20.9 or later
Fixed in 20.9
Interim mitigation

Apply the Cisco-provided software update/patch for CVE-2022-20818. Until patched, limit CLI access to trusted personnel only and monitor for suspicious command execution.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Cisco SD-WAN version 20.9 or later (20.9, 20.10+, or latest stable release)

  1. Identify the specific SD-WAN component (Vbond Orchestrator, Vmanage, or Vsmart Controller) currently deployed
  2. Determine the current installed version using the CLI command 'show version' or through the web UI
  3. Plan the upgrade ensuring adequate downtime window and backup of current configuration
  4. Upgrade the software to version 20.9 or later following Cisco's standard SD-WAN upgrade procedures
  5. After upgrade, verify the new version is installed using 'show version'
  6. Confirm the CLI access controls are functioning properly

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

Fix this in Sd Wan Vbond Orchestrator Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
16.0 hours of engineering $2,840
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $4,544.

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-2022-20818 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