# CVE-2022-20798: Cisco Email Security Appliance and Cisco Secure Email and Web Manager External Authentication Bypass Vulnerability

> Unauthenticated remote attackers can bypass authentication on Cisco ESA and Secure Email Manager devices using LDAP, gaining unauthorized access to the web management interface.

- **Severity:** Critical 9.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 15 Jun 2022
- **Updated:** 1 Nov 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-c457-6cm5-j5m6

## What is CVE-2022-20798?

CVE-2022-20798 is a critical authentication bypass vulnerability in Cisco Email Security Appliance, published on 15 Jun 2022. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

A vulnerability in the external authentication functionality of Cisco Secure Email and Web Manager, formerly known as Cisco Security Management Appliance (SMA), and Cisco Email Security Appliance (ESA) could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to bypass authentication and log in to the web management interface of an affected device. This vulnerability is due to improper authentication checks when an affected device uses Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) for external authentication. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by entering a specific input on the login page of the affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to gain unauthorized access to the web-based management interface of the affected device.

Weakness: CWE-287 (Improper Authentication)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-20798?

It affects 2 products.


Products: Cisco Email Security Appliance, Cisco Secure Email and Web Manager.

## How do I fix CVE-2022-20798?

No fix has been published for CVE-2022-20798 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2022-20798 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-20798 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Cisco Email Security Appliance

- [CVE-2015-6291](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-6291/): Denial of service in n/a (high 7.8)
- [CVE-2022-20664](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-20664/): Cisco Email Security Appliance and Cisco Secure Email and Web Manager Information Disclosure Vulnerability (high 7.7)
- [CVE-2022-20960](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-20960/): Denial of service in Cisco Secure Email (high 7.5)
- [CVE-2018-0419](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-0419/): Security feature bypass in Email Security Appliance (ESA) (high 7.5)
- [CVE-2016-1480](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-1480/): Security feature bypass in Cisco AsyncOS through WSA10.0.0-000 (high 7.5)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2022-20798 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2022-20798 is a critical authentication bypass vulnerability in Cisco Email Security Appliance, published on 15 Jun 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-2022-20798 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Cisco Email Security 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-2022-20798/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-20798/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-20798
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-20798
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2022-20798

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-20798/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.