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Fencer Vulns
medium 6.1

CVE-2022-20944 json

Cisco IOS XE Software for Catalyst 9200 Series Switches Arbitrary Code Execution Vulnerability

published 2022-10-10 4 y ago modified 2026-06-17 4 mo ago also EUVD-2022-26194

cvss
6.1
version 3.1, CNA
cisa kev
Not listed
not in CISA's catalog
epss
0.2%
EPSS 0.2% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 12%
public exploits
0
none known

Summary

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.

CISA SSVC

Exploitation
none
Automatable
no
Technical impact
total
Assessed
2 y ago

Exploit prediction

0.22% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 12% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-08).

CVSS scores

assigned by version score vector
CNA 3.1 6.1 CVSS:3.1/AV:P/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N
NVD 3.1 6.8 CVSS:3.1/AV:P/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Affected products

  • Cisco Cisco IOS XE Software

Classification

Weakness
  • CWE-347 Improper Verification of Cryptographic Signature
Technology feeds

References

Sources

Fencer Vulns keeps one entry per vulnerability: the CVE id wins, then GHSA, and records that alias each other are merged, except that two CVEs always keep separate entries. The same data is available as JSON.