# CVE-2022-20692: Cisco IOS XE Software NETCONF Over SSH Denial of Service Vulnerability

> A low-privileged remote attacker can cause a denial of service on Cisco IOS XE devices by exhausting resources via numerous NETCONF over SSH connections.

- **Severity:** High 7.7 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 15 Apr 2022
- **Updated:** 6 Nov 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-m4jm-38q7-gpvv

## What is CVE-2022-20692?

CVE-2022-20692 is a high-severity denial of service vulnerability in Cisco Ios Xe, published on 15 Apr 2022. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

A vulnerability in the NETCONF over SSH feature of Cisco IOS XE Software could allow a low-privileged, authenticated, remote attacker to cause a denial of service condition (DoS) on an affected device. This vulnerability is due to insufficient resource management. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by initiating a large number of NETCONF over SSH connections. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to exhaust resources, causing the device to reload and resulting in a DoS condition on an affected device.

Weakness: CWE-400 (Uncontrolled Resource Consumption)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-20692?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Cisco Ios Xe.

## How do I fix CVE-2022-20692?

No fix has been published for CVE-2022-20692 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2022-20692 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-20692 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Cisco Ios Xe

- [CVE-2023-20198](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-20198/): Cisco IOS XE Web UI Privilege Escalation (critical 10.0, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2018-0151](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-0151/): Cisco IOS Software and Cisco IOS XE Software Quality of Service Remote Code Execution (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2023-20273](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-20273/): Cisco IOS XE Web UI Command Injection (high 7.2, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2025-20188](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-20188/): Hardcoded credentials in Cisco IOS XE Software (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2021-34770](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-34770/): Cisco IOS XE Software for Catalyst 9000 Family Wireless Controllers CAPWAP Remote Code Execution Vulnerability (critical 10.0)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2022-20692 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2022-20692 is a high-severity denial of service vulnerability in Cisco Ios Xe, published on 15 Apr 2022. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-20692 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Cisco Ios Xe. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-20692/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-20692/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-20692
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-20692
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2022-20692

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-20692/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.