CVE-2022-20944 Cisco IOS XE Software for Catalyst 9200 Series Switches Arbitrary Code Execution Vulnerability
An attacker with physical or privileged access can bypass image verification to execute unsigned code on Cisco Catalyst switches.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Not needed
- Attackable
- Local or same network only
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- None listed
What is CVE-2022-20944?
CVE-2022-20944 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Cisco Ios Xe, 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 software image verification functionality of Cisco IOS XE Software for Cisco Catalyst 9200 Series Switches could allow an unauthenticated, physical attacker to execute unsigned code at system boot time. This vulnerability is due to an improper check in the code function that manages the verification of the digital signatures of system image files during the initial boot process. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by loading unsigned software on an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to boot a malicious software image or execute unsigned code and bypass the image verification check part of the boot process of the affected device. To exploit this vulnerability, the attacker needs either unauthenticated physical access to the device or privileged access to the root shell on the device. Note: In Cisco IOS XE Software releases 16.11.1 and later, root shell access is protected by the Consent Token mechanism. However, an attacker with level-15 privileges could easily downgrade the Cisco IOS XE Software running on a device to a release where root shell access is more readily available.
Weakness: CWE-347
Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-20944?
It affects 1 product.
Products include Cisco Ios Xe.
How do I fix CVE-2022-20944?
No fix has been published for CVE-2022-20944 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.
Is CVE-2022-20944 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-20944 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Other vulnerabilities in Cisco Ios Xe
- CVE-2023-20198 Cisco IOS XE Web UI Privilege Escalation
- CVE-2018-0151 Cisco IOS Software and Cisco IOS XE Software Quality of Service Remote Code Execution
- CVE-2023-20273 Cisco IOS XE Web UI Command Injection
- CVE-2025-20188 Hardcoded credentials in Cisco IOS XE Software
- CVE-2021-34770 Cisco IOS XE Software for Catalyst 9000 Family Wireless Controllers CAPWAP Remote Code Execution Vulnerability
Sources
Also known as GHSA-854x-2jm6-mvwp.