CVE-2022-20727

Root privilege escalation via unchecked application content

Published Apr 15, 2022 · Updated Sep 16, 2024

Privilege escalation in Cisco IOS with IOx enabled allows local users with administrative access to gain root-equivalent privileges. The application loader improperly validates application content, allowing content to be modified during loading and accepted in a privileged context. Exploitation requires local authenticated access and the ability to alter an IOx application during loading; the resulting access is equivalent to root.

CVSS severity5.1
Medium
EPSS probability1.11%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Privilege escalation in Cisco IOS with IOx enabled allows local users with administrative access to gain root-equivalent privileges. The application loader improperly validates application content, allowing content to be modified during loading and accepted in a privileged context. Exploitation requires local authenticated access and the ability to alter an IOx application during loading; the resulting access is equivalent to root.

The record

CVE
CVE-2022-20727
Published
Apr 15, 2022
Updated
Sep 16, 2024
Vendor
ClamAV
Product
Cisco IOS
Classifications
CWE-22, T1068
Attack vector
local
Privileges
admin

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Apr 15, 2022CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Sep 16, 2024Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

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Is a vulnerable build present?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=n/a

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesadmin

What is affected?

ClamAV · Cisco IOSversion=n/a

Published CVSS scores

6.7NIST NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
5.5Cisco Systems, Inc. CNA recordCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:H/A:N
5.1Cisco Systems, Inc.CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:H/A:N

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

Daily unique IPsNo honeypot observations are available for this CVE in the selected window.

No observations available

Sep 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesadmin
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-22Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal')
T1068Exploitation for Privilege Escalation

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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