# CVE-2022-20739: Cisco SD-WAN vManage Software Privilege Escalation Vulnerability

> An authenticated low-privileged user can escalate privileges to root by injecting commands into a file executed by an admin.

- **Severity:** High 7.3 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/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:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 15 Apr 2022
- **Updated:** 6 Nov 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-32vw-hmgx-hqv2

## What is CVE-2022-20739?

CVE-2022-20739 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, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

### Official description

A vulnerability in the CLI of Cisco SD-WAN vManage Software could allow an authenticated, local attacker to execute arbitrary commands on the underlying operating system as the root user. The attacker must be authenticated on the affected system as a low-privileged user to exploit this vulnerability. This vulnerability exists because a file leveraged by a root user is executed when a low-privileged user runs specific commands on an affected system. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by injecting arbitrary commands to a specific file as a lower-privileged user and then waiting until an admin user executes specific commands. The commands would then be executed on the device by the root user. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to escalate their privileges on the affected system from a low-privileged user to the root user.

Weakness: CWE-269 (Improper Privilege Management)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-20739?

It affects 2 products.


Products: Cisco Catalyst Sd-Wan Manager, Cisco Sd-Wan Vmanage.

## How do I fix CVE-2022-20739?

No fix has been published for CVE-2022-20739 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2022-20739 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-20739 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-2022-20739 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2022-20739 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, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-20739 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-2022-20739/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-20739/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-20739
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-20739
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2022-20739

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-20739/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.