# CVE-2022-20864: Cisco IOS XE ROM Monitor Software for Catalyst Switches Information Disclosure Vulnerability

> An unauthenticated local attacker can read files or reset the enable password by rebooting into ROMMON due to improper file permissions.

- **Severity:** Medium 4.6 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:P/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 10 Oct 2022
- **Updated:** 1 Nov 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-286c-pf2q-9ghm

## What is CVE-2022-20864?

CVE-2022-20864 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Cisco IOS XE Software, published on 10 Oct 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 password-recovery disable feature of Cisco IOS XE ROM Monitor (ROMMON) Software for Cisco Catalyst Switches could allow an unauthenticated, local attacker to recover the configuration or reset the enable password. This vulnerability is due to a problem with the file and boot variable permissions in ROMMON. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by rebooting the switch into ROMMON and entering specific commands through the console. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to read any file or reset the enable password.

Weakness: CWE-538 (Insertion of Sensitive Information into Externally-Accessible File or Directory)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-20864?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Cisco Ios Xe Rom Monitor.

## How do I fix CVE-2022-20864?

No fix has been published for CVE-2022-20864 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2022-20864 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-20864 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Cisco IOS XE Software

- [CVE-2021-1452](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-1452/): Cisco IOS XE ROM Monitor Software for Cisco Industrial Switches OS Command Injection Vulnerability (medium 6.8)
- [CVE-2020-3524](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-3524/): Cisco IOS XE ROM Monitor Software Vulnerability (medium 6.4)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2022-20864 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2022-20864 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Cisco IOS XE Software, published on 10 Oct 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-2022-20864 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Cisco IOS XE Software. 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-2022-20864/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-20864/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-20864
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-20864
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2022-20864

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-20864/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.