CVE-2022-20868Network attack vector

Authenticated privilege escalation via hard-coded token key

Published Nov 3, 2022 · Updated Aug 3, 2024

Privilege escalation in Cisco Secure Email, Secure Web Appliance, and Secure Email and Web Manager allows remote authenticated users to impersonate users. The next-generation management interface encrypts API tokens with a hard-coded value, enabling a crafted HTTP request to substitute another valid user identity. Valid credentials and management-interface access are required; successful exploitation executes commands with the impersonated account's privileges.

CVSS severity5.4
Medium
EPSS probability0.74%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
Coverage for this vulnerability

See if you're affected

Explore vulnerability checks for your environment with Hinoki.

Book a demo

Summary

What happened

Privilege escalation in Cisco Secure Email, Secure Web Appliance, and Secure Email and Web Manager allows remote authenticated users to impersonate users. The next-generation management interface encrypts API tokens with a hard-coded value, enabling a crafted HTTP request to substitute another valid user identity. Valid credentials and management-interface access are required; successful exploitation executes commands with the impersonated account's privileges.

The record

CVE
CVE-2022-20868
Published
Nov 3, 2022
Updated
Aug 3, 2024
Vendor
ClamAV
Product
Cisco Secure Email
Classifications
CWE-798, CWE-321, T1190
Attack vector
network
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Nov 3, 2022CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Aug 3, 2024Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

Compare your product and version with the public record. A matching version still requires validation against your environment.

Is a vulnerable build present?

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

  1. Affected versionversion=13.0.0-392
  2. Affected versionversion=13.5.1-277
  3. Affected versionversion=14.0.0-698
  4. Affected versionversion=14.2.0-620

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectornetwork
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

ClamAV · Cisco Secure Emailversion=13.0.0-392; version=13.5.1-277; version=14.0.0-698; version=14.2.0-620
ClamAV · Cisco Secure Web Applianceversion=11.8.0-414; version=11.8.1-023; version=11.8.3-018; version=11.8.3-021; version=12.0.1-268; version=12.0.3-007; version=12.5.1-011; version=12.5.2-007; version=12.5.4-005; version=14.0.2-012; version=14.5.0-498
ClamAV · Cisco Secure Email and Web Managerversion=12.0.0-452; version=12.0.1-011; version=12.5.0-636; version=12.5.0-658; version=12.5.0-670; version=12.5.0-678; version=12.8.1-002; version=13.0.0-277; version=13.6.2-078; version=13.8.1-068; version=13.8.1-074; version=14.0.0-404; version=14.1.0-223; version=14.1.0-227

Published CVSS scores

4.7Cisco Systems, Inc. CNA recordCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L
8.8NIST National Vulnerability DatabaseCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
5.4Cisco Security AdvisoryCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/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 9, 2026Sep 15, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 15, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectornetwork
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-798Use of Hard-coded Credentials
CWE-321Use of Hard-coded Cryptographic Key
T1190Exploit Public-Facing Application

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

See the directory against your own environment.

Your stack

Check the software in your environment

Book a demo to see how Hinoki identifies affected software and validates exploitability in your environment.

Book a demo