# CVE-2022-20716: Cisco SD-WAN Solution Improper Access Control Vulnerability

> An authenticated local attacker can modify system files to gain root privileges on Cisco SD-WAN devices.

- **Severity:** High 7.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 15 Apr 2022
- **Updated:** 6 Nov 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-467q-fpqj-82rx

## What is CVE-2022-20716?

CVE-2022-20716 is a high-severity vulnerability in Cisco Catalyst Sd-Wan Manager, published on 15 Apr 2022. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

A vulnerability in the CLI of Cisco SD-WAN Software could allow an authenticated, local attacker to gain escalated privileges. This vulnerability is due to improper access control on files within the affected system. A local attacker could exploit this vulnerability by modifying certain files on the vulnerable device. If successful, the attacker could gain escalated privileges and take actions on the system with the privileges of the root user.

Weakness: CWE-284 (Improper Access Control)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-20716?

It affects 7 products.


Products: Cisco Catalyst Sd-Wan Manager, Cisco Sd-Wan, Cisco Sd-Wan Solution, Cisco Sd-Wan Vbond Orchestrator, Cisco Sd-Wan Vedge Cloud, Cisco Sd-Wan Vedge Router, Cisco Sd-Wan Vsmart Controller Software.

## How do I fix CVE-2022-20716?

No fix has been published for CVE-2022-20716 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2022-20716 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-20716 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Cisco Catalyst Sd-Wan Manager

- [CVE-2026-20182](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-20182/): Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Controller Authentication Bypass (critical 10.0, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2026-20127](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-20127/): Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Controller and Manager Authentication Bypass (critical 10.0, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2026-76504](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-76504/): Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Manager Hex Encoding (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2026-20245](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-20245/): Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Manager Improper Encoding or Escaping of Output (high 7.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2022-20775](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-20775/): Cisco SD-WAN Path Traversal (high 7.8, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2022-20716 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2022-20716 is a high-severity vulnerability in Cisco Catalyst Sd-Wan Manager, published on 15 Apr 2022. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-20716 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Cisco Catalyst Sd-Wan Manager. 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-2022-20716/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-20716/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-20716
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-20716
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2022-20716

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-20716/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.