CVE-2022-20775
Published: April 11, 2026
Official Description
Cisco SD-WAN CLI contains a path traversal vulnerability that could allow an authenticated local attacker to gain elevated privileges via improper access controls on commands within the application CLI. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary commands as the root user.
Technical Analysis
CVE-2022-20775 requires local access, meaning attackers must already have a foothold on the target system.
Exploitation requires some privileges, which limits the exposure to scenarios where an attacker has already gained initial access.
CISA has added CVE-2022-20775 to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog, confirming active exploitation in the wild. U.S. federal agencies are required to patch this within the mandated timeframe, and all organizations should treat remediation as urgent.
Affected Vendors & Products
Exploit & PoC Resources
News & Research Mentioning CVE-2022-20775
Categories: Threat Research Tags: advisory, vulnerability, SD-WAN [xlite_meta score:39 src:Sophos X-Ops xlite_fp:a949ba8e3fb8bc29d801f385a117d9d59b7da5120561f66e36cddf7c7f92a222]
CISA has added two new vulnerabilities to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) Catalog, based on evidence of active exploitation. CVE-2022-20775 Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Path Traversal Vulnerability CVE-2026-20127 Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Controller and Manager Authentication Bypass Vulnerability These types of vulnerabilities are frequent attack vectors for malicious cyber actors and pose significant risks to the federal enterprise. Binding Operational Directive (BOD) 22-01: Reducing the Significant Risk of Known Exploited Vulnerabilities established the KEV Catalog as a living list of known Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVEs) that carry significant risk to the federal enterprise. BOD 22-01 requires Federal Civilian Executive Branch (FCEB) ag [xlite_meta score:51 src:CISA Alerts xlite_fp:db85f6ca6e4975be4b77049febf8c4f3189cddd9f1d57351ee5c44a75278c736]
The purpose of this Alert is to provide resources for organizations with Cisco Software-Defined Wide-Area Networking (SD-WAN) systems, including Federal Civilian Executive Branch (FCEB) agencies, to address ongoing exploitation of multiple vulnerabilities. Notably, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has added CVE-2026-20127 and CVE-2022-20775 to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) Catalog on Feb. 25, 2026. As a result of the malicious cyber activity and vulnerabilities involving Cisco SD-WAN systems, CISA has outlined requirements for FCEB agencies in Emergency Directive (ED) 26-03 to inventory Cisco SD-WAN systems, update them, and assess compromise. CISA and partners have observed malicious cyber actors targeting and [xlite_meta score:70 src:CISA Alerts xlite_fp:7dc3844e191387ecfe86418b5f621a602de75b9ca7b80f63eb15c34c26bcb5bc]
Quick Facts
Known Threat Actors
Recommended Actions
- →Apply vendor patches immediately
- →Monitor CVE-2022-20775 in threat intel feeds
- →Review IDS/IPS signatures for exploitation attempts
- !CISA KEV: Federal agencies must patch per BOD 22-01 timeline
- !Active exploitation confirmed — treat as P1