CVE-2022-20789 Cisco Unified Communications Products Arbitrary File Write Vulnerability

Medium 4.9 Published 21 Apr 2022 Updated 6 Nov 2024

Authenticated attackers can write arbitrary files with root privileges during system upgrades, potentially leading to code execution or privilege escalation.

Exploited in the wild: Not known
Login needed: An administrator
Attackable: Over the internet
Victim action needed: Not needed
Fix: None listed

What is CVE-2022-20789?

CVE-2022-20789 is a medium-severity path traversal vulnerability in Cisco Unified Communications Manager, published on 21 Apr 2022. An attacker needs administrator access to exploit it, with no action from the victim.

Official description

A vulnerability in the software upgrade process of Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Unified CM) and Cisco Unified Communications Manager Session Management Edition (Unified CM SME) could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to write arbitrary files on the affected system. This vulnerability is due to improper restrictions applied to a system script. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by using crafted variables during the execution of a system upgrade. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to overwrite or append arbitrary data to system files using root-level privileges.

Weakness: CWE-610, CWE-73

Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-20789?

It affects 1 product.

Products include Cisco Unified Communications Manager.

How do I fix CVE-2022-20789?

No fix has been published for CVE-2022-20789 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

Upgrade, and resolve every user-supplied path against an allowed base folder before opening it. More about Path traversal.

Is CVE-2022-20789 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-20789 in the wild and no public exploit code.

All Cisco Unified Communications Manager vulnerabilities

Sources

Also known as GHSA-8rhg-6qwg-6c3v.