Cyber Resilience

CVE-2022-20705

Memory Safety in Cisco Rv340 Firmware ≤ 1.0.03.24

Public PoCHigh EPSSMemory Safety
Published
10 February 2022
Modified
21 November 2024
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 10.0
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.80 99.6th percentile
Risk Priority 100 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2022-20705 is a critical-severity Stack-based Buffer Overflow (CWE-121) vulnerability in Cisco Rv340 Firmware. Its CVSS base score is 10.0 (Critical).

Operationally, ranked in the top 0.4% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SC-7 (Boundary Protection) and SI-2 (Flaw Remediation) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary

Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.

CVE-2022-20705 encompasses multiple vulnerabilities, primarily stack-based buffer overflows tracked under CWE-121 and CWE-787, affecting Cisco Small Business RV160, RV260, RV340, and RV345 Series Routers. These flaws carry a CVSS 3.1 score of 10.0 and can result in arbitrary code execution, privilege elevation, command execution, authentication bypass, execution of unsigned software, or denial of service.

Remote attackers can exploit the issues over the network without authentication or user interaction, leveraging the routers' exposed management interfaces to achieve full device compromise or service disruption.

The Cisco Security Advisory at tools.cisco.com provides official guidance and patches for the affected RV series models, while additional technical details appear in Zero Day Initiative advisories ZDI-22-409, ZDI-22-410, and ZDI-22-415 along with public exploit references on Packet Storm.

The associated EPSS score remains elevated, with a current value of 0.8021 and a recorded peak of 0.8186.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

Multiple vulnerabilities in Cisco Small Business RV160, RV260, RV340, and RV345 Series Routers could allow an attacker to do any of the following: Execute arbitrary code Elevate privileges Execute arbitrary commands Bypass authentication and authorization protections Fetch and run unsigned…

more

software Cause denial of service (DoS) For more information about these vulnerabilities, see the Details section of this advisory.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

Likely ATT&CK TechniquesAI

Techniques this vulnerability likely enables, inferred from its description, weakness type, and attributed-actor tradecraft. Confidence is per-technique.

T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Accessconfidence: HIGH
Unauthenticated remote exploitation of stack buffer overflows in exposed management interfaces directly enables initial access via public-facing applications.
T1068 Exploitation for Privilege Escalation Privilege Escalationconfidence: HIGH
Successful exploitation of the buffer overflows grants arbitrary code execution and privilege elevation on the router.
T1059 Command and Scripting Interpreter Executionconfidence: MEDIUM
Arbitrary code execution on the device can be used to run commands via the router's native command interpreter.
T1499 Endpoint Denial of Service Impactconfidence: MEDIUM
The vulnerabilities can be abused to cause denial of service against the router's management services.
inferred from description + CWE · MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise v19.0

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2022-20700Same product: Cisco Rv160
CVE-2022-20703Same product: Cisco Rv160
CVE-2022-20701Same product: Cisco Rv340
CVE-2022-20707Same product: Cisco Rv340
CVE-2022-20699Same product: Cisco Rv340
CVE-2022-20708Same product: Cisco Rv340
CVE-2023-20078Same vendor: Cisco
CVE-2024-20433Same vendor: Cisco
CVE-2024-20519Same vendor: Cisco
CVE-2024-20518Same vendor: Cisco

Affected Assets

cisco
rv340 firmware
≤ 1.0.03.24
cisco
rv340w firmware
≤ 1.0.03.24
cisco
rv345 firmware
≤ 1.0.03.24
cisco
rv345p firmware
≤ 1.0.03.24
cisco
rv160 firmware
≤ 1.0.01.05
cisco
rv160w firmware
≤ 1.0.01.05
cisco
rv260 firmware
≤ 1.0.01.05
cisco
rv260p firmware
≤ 1.0.01.05
cisco
rv260w firmware
≤ 1.0.01.05

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)
  • SI-2 Flaw Remediation
  • SC-7 Boundary Protection
  • AC-3 Access Enforcement
Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)
  • 2 hardening rules · 2 OS baselines
Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

prevent

Directly requires timely application of vendor patches that remediate the stack-based buffer overflows and related flaws described in the Cisco advisory.

prevent

Enforces boundary protection and interface restrictions that prevent unauthenticated remote attackers from reaching the exposed management services exploited by CVE-2022-20705.

prevent

Requires enforcement of access-control policies on device interfaces, limiting the ability of unauthenticated actors to reach vulnerable management functions even when the device is reachable.

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.PS-06 mostly match
prevents

Secure-development practices directly prevent introduction of stack buffer overflows.

ID.RA-01 partial match
prevents

Vulnerability scanning can discover stack buffer overflows but does not prevent their introduction.

PR.PS-02 partial match
prevents

Patching eliminates known instances of the weakness after discovery.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

detects

Security testing (fuzzing, static analysis) detects stack overflows before release.

prevents

Secure SDLC mandates buffer-safety practices that directly prevent stack overflows.

prevents

Application security requirements can specify buffer-size and input-validation rules.

prevents

Secure architecture principles include memory-safety and least-privilege stack usage.

prevents

Secure coding standards explicitly forbid unsafe buffer handling that causes CWE-121.

prevents

Change management can enforce review gates that catch unsafe memory operations before deployment.

References