dbcve.org
Firepower 4110 FirmwareOperating system · Cisco

CVE-2022-20865

MEDIUM · 6.7 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-08-25
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
69/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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 FXOS Software could allow an authenticated, local attacker to inject arbitrary commands that are executed with root privileges. The attacker would need to have Administrator privileges on the device. This vulnerability is due to insufficient input validation of commands supplied by the user. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by authenticating to a device and submitting crafted input to the affected command. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute commands on the underlying operating system with root privileges.

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 command injection vulnerability in the Cisco FXOS CLI allows an authenticated attacker with Administrator privileges to inject arbitrary operating system commands that execute with root privileges due to insufficient input validation of user-supplied command parameters.

MitigationApply the vendor patch from Cisco for this vulnerability. Prior to patching, limit CLI access to trusted administrators only and monitor for anomalous command execution patterns.

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
Firepower 4110 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Firepower 4112 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Firepower 4115 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Firepower 4120 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Firepower 4125 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Firepower 4140 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Firepower 4145 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Firepower 4150 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions

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

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/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 Firepower model
    Run 'show version' in FXOS CLI or check the physical appliance model label. Alternatively, use 'scope chassis' then 'show detail' in FXOS to identify the model number.
    Affected if The model is one of: Firepower 4110, 4112, 4115, 4120, 4125, 4140, 4145, or 4150.
  2. Confirm FXOS CLI is accessible
    Attempt to access the FXOS CLI via console, SSH, or through Firepower Management Center. Verify the CLI prompt appears (usually 'firepower#' or 'fxos#').
    Affected if FXOS CLI is accessible and the attacker has network or console access to reach it.
  3. Check for Administrator accounts
    In FXOS CLI, run 'show user-account' or 'scope security' then 'show local-user' to list configured administrator accounts.
    Affected if There exists at least one account with Administrator privileges that could be compromised or used by an attacker.
  4. Review command execution logs
    Run 'show logg' or 'show logging' in FXOS CLI to review recent command executions. Check for unexpected or suspicious commands, especially those involving shell commands, file operations, or network utilities.
    Affected if Logs show commands that were not issued by authorized administrators, or show abnormal patterns.
  5. Check for unauthorized CLI sessions
    Run 'show sessions' or 'show user-sessions' in FXOS CLI to list active and recent CLI sessions, including source IP and login time.
    Affected if There are active sessions from unknown IP addresses or sessions at times when no administrators were logged in.

The environment is affected if it runs any of the listed Firepower models (4110, 4112, 4115, 4120, 4125, 4140, 4145, 4150) with FXOS CLI accessible to authenticated Administrator-level users, as the vulnerability allows command injection via CLI parameters.

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 this vulnerability. Prior to patching, limit CLI access to trusted administrators only and monitor for anomalous command execution patterns.

Fix this in Firepower 4110 Firmware Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
22.0 hours of engineering $3,860
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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-2022-20865 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
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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