Actively exploited · Published Sep 30, 2022 · Assigned by cisco
CVE-2022-20775Cisco SD-WAN Software Privilege Escalation Vulnerability
High 7.8 Exploited
In plain English
A high-severity security flaw in Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN from Cisco. Attackers are actively exploiting it in the wild (listed by CISA on February 25, 2026). The chance it is exploited in the next 30 days is estimated at 12.0% (higher than 96% of all known vulnerabilities). Please adhere to CISA’s guidelines to assess exposure and mitigate risks associated with Cisco SD-WAN devices as outlines in CISA’s Emergency Directive 26-03 (URL listed below in Notes) and CISA’s “Hunt & Hardening Guidance for Cisco SD-WAN Devices (URL listed below in Notes). Adhere to the applicable BOD 22-01 guidance for cloud services or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are not available.
CISA guidance
Please adhere to CISA’s guidelines to assess exposure and mitigate risks associated with Cisco SD-WAN devices as outlines in CISA’s Emergency Directive 26-03 (URL listed below in Notes) and CISA’s “Hunt & Hardening Guidance for Cisco SD-WAN Devices (URL listed below in Notes). Adhere to the applicable BOD 22-01 guidance for cloud services or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are not available.
Federal agencies must remediate by Feb 27, 2026.
Official description
A vulnerability in the CLI of Cisco SD-WAN Software could allow an authenticated, local attacker to gain elevated privileges. This vulnerability is due to improper access controls on commands within the application CLI. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by running a maliciously crafted command on the application CLI. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary commands as the root user. Cisco has released software updates that address this vulnerability. There are no workarounds that address this vulnerability. https://sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-sd-wan-priv-E6e8tEdF
Affected products (as reported)
| Vendor | Product | Versions |
|---|---|---|
| Cisco | Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN | 18.3.119.2.117.2.419.3.018.3.018.3.418.4.30318.4.0.1 |
| Cisco | Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Manager | 20.1.1219.2.118.4.418.4.520.1.1.120.1.119.3.019.2.2 |
| Cisco | Cisco SD-WAN vContainer | 18.4.520.1.1218.3.619.2.119.3.020.1.119.2.218.3.8 |
| Cisco | Cisco SD-WAN vEdge Cloud | 19.2.120.1.1218.4.419.3.018.3.819.2.220.1.118.3.6 |
| Cisco | Cisco SD-WAN vEdge Router | 18.4.30318.3.719.3.018.2.020.1.1219.2.09917.2.1018.3.3 |
Weakness: CWE-25 · Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
References
- cisco-sa-sd-wan-priv-E6e8tEdF
- 20220928 Cisco SD-WAN Software Privilege Escalation Vulnerabilities vendor-advisory, x_transferred
- https://github.com/orangecertcc/security-research/security/advisories/GHSA-wmjv-552v-pxjc x_transferred
- https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2022-20775 government-resource