# CVE-2022-20738: Cisco Umbrella Secure Web Gateway File Inspection Bypass Vulnerability

> An unauthenticated remote attacker can bypass file inspection protections in Cisco Umbrella Secure Web Gateway to download malicious payloads.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:L/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 10 Feb 2022
- **Updated:** 6 Nov 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-qm4x-x5rj-qf54

## What is CVE-2022-20738?

CVE-2022-20738 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Cisco Umbrella Insights Virtual Appliance, published on 10 Feb 2022. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

A vulnerability in the Cisco Umbrella Secure Web Gateway service could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to bypass the file inspection feature. This vulnerability is due to insufficient restrictions in the file inspection feature. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by downloading a crafted payload through specific methods. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to bypass file inspection protections and download a malicious payload.

Weakness: CWE-693 (Protection Mechanism Failure)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-20738?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Cisco Umbrella Secure Web Gateway.

## How do I fix CVE-2022-20738?

No fix has been published for CVE-2022-20738 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2022-20738 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-20738 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Cisco Umbrella Insights Virtual Appliance

- [CVE-2022-20805](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-20805/): Cisco Umbrella Secure Web Gateway File Decryption Bypass Vulnerability (medium 4.1)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2022-20738 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2022-20738 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Cisco Umbrella Insights Virtual Appliance, published on 10 Feb 2022. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-20738 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Cisco Umbrella Insights Virtual Appliance. 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-2022-20738/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-20738/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-20738
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-20738
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2022-20738

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-20738/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.