# CVE-2022-20732: Cisco Virtualized Infrastructure Manager Privilege Escalation Vulnerability

> An authenticated local attacker can read configuration files to obtain database credentials, allowing them to view, modify data, and elevate privileges on Cisco VIM.

- **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:** 21 Apr 2022
- **Updated:** 6 Nov 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-cx86-w5j3-gfqp

## What is CVE-2022-20732?

CVE-2022-20732 is a high-severity vulnerability in Cisco Virtualized Infrastructure Manager, published on 21 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 configuration file protections of Cisco Virtualized Infrastructure Manager (VIM) could allow an authenticated, local attacker to access confidential information and elevate privileges on an affected device. This vulnerability is due to improper access permissions for certain configuration files. An attacker with low-privileged credentials could exploit this vulnerability by accessing an affected device and reading the affected configuration files. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to obtain internal database credentials, which the attacker could use to view and modify the contents of the database. The attacker could use this access to the database to elevate privileges on the affected device.

Weakness: CWE-276 (Incorrect Default Permissions), CWE-284 (Improper Access Control)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-20732?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Cisco Virtualized Infrastructure Manager.

## How do I fix CVE-2022-20732?

No fix has been published for CVE-2022-20732 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2022-20732 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-20732 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2022-20732 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2022-20732 is a high-severity vulnerability in Cisco Virtualized Infrastructure Manager, published on 21 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-2022-20732 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Cisco Virtualized Infrastructure 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-2022-20732/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-20732/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-20732
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-20732
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2022-20732

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-20732/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.