# CVE-2022-20721: Cisco IOx Application Hosting Environment Vulnerabilities

> Attackers can inject commands to execute code on the host OS or install unauthorized applications in Cisco IOx environments.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:H/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** An administrator
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 15 Apr 2022
- **Updated:** 17 Sep 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-7xxw-22f3-9pq3

## What is CVE-2022-20721?

CVE-2022-20721 is a medium-severity command injection vulnerability in Cisco Ios Xe, published on 15 Apr 2022. An attacker needs administrator access to exploit it, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Multiple vulnerabilities in the Cisco IOx application hosting environment on multiple Cisco platforms could allow an attacker to inject arbitrary commands into the underlying host operating system, execute arbitrary code on the underlying host operating system, install applications without being authenticated, or conduct a cross-site scripting (XSS) attack against a user of the affected software. For more information about these vulnerabilities, see the Details section of this advisory.

Weakness: CWE-22 (Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-20721?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Cisco Ios Xe.

## How do I fix CVE-2022-20721?

No fix has been published for CVE-2022-20721 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2022-20721 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-20721 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-2022-20721 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2022-20721 is a medium-severity command injection vulnerability in Cisco Ios Xe, published on 15 Apr 2022. An attacker needs administrator access to exploit it, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-20721 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-2022-20721/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-20721/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-20721
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-20721
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2022-20721

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-20721/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.