# CVE-2022-28169: Privilege escalation in Brocade Fabric OS

> A low-privilege user can gain admin rights by manipulating authorization headers in Brocade Fabric OS Webtools.

- **Severity:** High 8.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 25 Oct 2022
- **Updated:** 9 May 2025
- **Also known as:** GHSA-c4gp-696g-43xv

## What is CVE-2022-28169?

CVE-2022-28169 is a high-severity vulnerability in Broadcom Fabric Operating System, published on 25 Oct 2022. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Brocade Webtools in Brocade Fabric OS versions before Brocade Fabric OS versions v9.1.1, v9.0.1e, and v8.2.3c could allow a low privilege webtools, user, to gain elevated admin rights, or privileges, beyond what is intended or entitled for that user. By exploiting this vulnerability, a user whose role is not an admin can create a new user with an admin role using the operator session id. The issue was replicated after intercepting the admin, and operator authorization headers sent unencrypted and editing a user addition request to use the operator's authorization header.

Weakness: CWE-269 (Improper Privilege Management)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-28169?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Broadcom Fabric Operating System.

## How do I fix CVE-2022-28169?

No fix has been published for CVE-2022-28169 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2022-28169 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-28169 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Broadcom Fabric Operating System

- [CVE-2025-1976](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-1976/): Broadcom Brocade Fabric OS Code Injection (high 8.6, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2021-22555](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-22555/): Linux Kernel Heap Out-of-Bounds Write (high 8.3, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2022-33186](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-33186/): Command injection in Brocade Fabric OS (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2021-27797](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-27797/): Hardcoded credentials in Brocade Fabric OS (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2020-15371](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-15371/): Code injection in Brocade Fabric OS (critical 9.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2022-28169 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2022-28169 is a high-severity vulnerability in Broadcom Fabric Operating System, published on 25 Oct 2022. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-28169 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Broadcom Fabric Operating System. 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-2022-28169/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-28169/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-28169
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-28169
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2022-28169

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-28169/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.