⚠ Reference material — not professional advice. Test in staging, back up first, verify against your specific version. Use your own judgment for your environment.
● High · CVSS 7.8 ⚠ ACTIVELY EXPLOITED — CISA KEV

How to Fix CVE-2022-20775: Path Traversal in Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN

Other vulnerabilities in the same area that are worth patching alongside this one:

*By Sai Kiran Pandrala*

⚡ At a glance
SeverityCVSS 7.8 - High
Actively exploited?Yes, listed in CISA KEV (added 2026-02-25)
Affected18.3.1, 19.2.1, 17.2.4, 19.3.0, 18.3.0, 18.3.4, and others
Fixed inSee vendor advisory
Type (CWE)CWE-25: Path Traversal: '/../filedir'
Patch immediately. CISA's KEV listing means active exploitation is confirmed. Federal agencies must remediate by 2026-02-27.

What is CVE-2022-20775?

CVE-2022-20775 is a path traversal flaw in Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN. The product fails to canonicalize or restrict file paths supplied by a remote caller, so .. sequences or absolute paths reach restricted parts of the filesystem. Vendor description: A vulnerability in the CLI of Cisco SD-WAN Software could allow an authenticated, local attacker to gain elevated privileges. This vulnerability is due to improper access controls on commands within the application CLI.

Why this CVE matters

Path traversal flaws look low-impact on paper but routinely chain into full compromise. An attacker who can read arbitrary files often pulls configuration secrets, session databases, or private keys, and many traversal bugs also allow writes that drop a webshell into the document root.

For deployments of Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN that have been exposed to the public internet during the disclosure window, the operating assumption should be that scanning has already happened. Confirmed in-the-wild exploitation makes that assumption mandatory, not cautious. Patching closes the door; log review and credential rotation close out the rest of the response.

Am I affected?

You are affected if your installation matches any of these version ranges:

Check your installed version against the list above. If you cannot determine the version, treat the system as affected and follow the upgrade path below.

On Cisco IOS / IOS XE systems, run show version to read the running image and compare against the affected ranges. For ASA / FTD, use show version from privileged EXEC mode.

How to fix CVE-2022-20775

  1. Read the vendor advisory in full: https://sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-sd-wan-priv-E6e8tEdF
  2. Upgrade Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN to the patched build listed in the vendor advisory.
  3. Back up the configuration (and database, where applicable) before upgrading.
  4. Apply the patch in a maintenance window. For HA pairs, upgrade the standby node first, fail over, then upgrade the former primary.
  5. Restart the affected service so the patched binary loads, then verify the new version (see verification section).

Upgrade the affected Cisco platform


! Verify the running release on the device
show version
show inventory

! Stage the patched image from the Cisco Security Advisory: https://tools.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-sd-wan-priv-E6e8tEdF
copy tftp://<fileserver>/<patched-image>.bin flash:

! Set the boot image and reload in a maintenance window
configure terminal
boot system flash:<patched-image>.bin
end
write memory
reload

! After reload, confirm the new image is running
show version | include image

Verify the fix landed


# 1. Confirm the running version matches the fixed-in version from the advisory:
#    https://tools.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-sd-wan-priv-E6e8tEdF
#    Use the platform-specific version probe above.

# 2. Re-scan with your vulnerability scanner (Nessus, Qualys, Tenable, OpenVAS).
#    The scanner should no longer flag CVE-2022-20775 on the patched target.

# 3. Inspect recent service / kernel logs for crash loops or rollback events.
journalctl -u <service> --since "10 minutes ago"
dmesg --since "10 minutes ago"

If you cannot patch immediately

Block requests containing ../, ..%2f, or absolute path prefixes at a reverse proxy. Restrict access to the affected endpoint to trusted networks. Apply the patched build as the real fix.

How to verify the fix worked

If your installation was internet-reachable during the disclosure window, treat log review as part of the remediation rather than an optional follow-up. Look for unusually long URI paths containing traversal sequences, unexpectedly large responses from the affected endpoint, and outbound requests from the application to internal addresses or cloud-metadata endpoints. Treat any sensitive file the bug could disclose as exposed. Because Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN sits on CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog for this CVE, defenders should also pull the IOC list from the vendor advisory and from CISA's analysis if one was published.

Frequently asked questions

Is CVE-2022-20775 being exploited in the wild?

Yes. CISA added CVE-2022-20775 to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, which means active exploitation has been confirmed by federal observation or credible vendor reporting.

Will a WAF or IDS rule fully mitigate CVE-2022-20775?

No. Network-layer filters can reduce noise and slow opportunistic scanners, but they will not stop a determined attacker. The vendor patch is the only durable fix.

How long should I plan for the upgrade?

Typical vendor-documented upgrade windows for Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN run from a few minutes to under an hour depending on cluster size. Test in a staging environment first and follow the vendor's documented HA upgrade order.

References

*This guide was assembled from the official vendor advisory, the NVD record, and the CISA KEV catalog entry on 2026-05-25. Always confirm against the vendor advisory before applying changes in production.*