Cyber Resilience

CVE-2022-20681

High

Published: 15 April 2022

Published
15 April 2022
Modified
21 November 2024
KEV Added
Patch
CVSS Score v3.1 7.8 CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.0012 29.9th percentile
Risk Priority 16 60% EPSS · 20% KEV · 20% CVSS

Summary

CVE-2022-20681 is a high-severity Incorrect Privilege Assignment (CWE-266) vulnerability in Cisco Ios Xe. Its CVSS base score is 7.8 (High).

Operationally, ranked at the 29.9th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability details

A vulnerability in the CLI of Cisco IOS XE Software for Cisco Catalyst 9000 Family Switches and Cisco Catalyst 9000 Family Wireless Controllers could allow an authenticated, local attacker to elevate privileges to level 15 on an affected device. This…

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vulnerability is due to insufficient validation of user privileges after the user executes certain CLI commands. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by logging in to an affected device as a low-privileged user and then executing certain CLI commands. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary commands with level 15 privileges on the affected device.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

No named actor attribution yet. ATT&CK technique mapping in progress for this CVE.

Affected Assets

cisco
ios xe
16.11.1, 16.11.1a, 16.11.1b, 16.11.1c, 16.11.1s

Mitigating Controls

Likely Mitigating Controls AI

Per-CVE control mapping for this CVE has not run yet; the list below is derived from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry.

addresses: CWE-266

Designation of a manager and policy dissemination ensures privileges are assigned according to defined roles.

addresses: CWE-266

Regular reviews catch incorrect privilege assignments to users, roles, or processes.

addresses: CWE-266

Explicitly specifying privileges and group/role memberships for accounts reduces the risk of incorrect privilege assignments.

addresses: CWE-266

The control requires explicit definition of separated access authorizations, making incorrect privilege assignments that bundle conflicting duties harder to implement.

addresses: CWE-266

Ensures privileges are assigned only as necessary rather than incorrectly over-granted.

References