CVE-2022-20846

MEDIUM
Published Nov 15, 2024 Modified Aug 5, 2025 CWE-120

Description

A vulnerability in the Cisco Discovery Protocol implementation for Cisco IOS XR Software could allow an unauthenticated, adjacent attacker to cause the Cisco Discovery Protocol process to reload on an affected device. This vulnerability is due to a heap buffer overflow in certain Cisco Discovery Protocol messages. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a malicious Cisco Discovery Protocol packet to an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause a heap overflow, which could cause the Cisco Discovery Protocol process to reload on the device. The bytes that can be written in the buffer overflow are restricted, which limits remote code execution.Note: Cisco Discovery Protocol is a Layer 2 protocol. To exploit this vulnerability, an attacker must be in the same broadcast domain as the affected device (Layer 2 adjacent).  Cisco has released software updates that address this vulnerability. There are no workarounds that address this vulnerability.This advisory is part of the September 2022 release of the Cisco IOS XR Software Security Advisory Bundled Publication. For a complete list of the advisories and links to them, see .

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CVSS v3.1 Score

4.3
MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L

Weakness Type (CWE)

CWE-120 CWE-120

Affected Products

Vendor Product
cisco ios_xr
cisco ios_xr
cisco ios_xr
cisco ios_xr
cisco ios_xr
cisco ios_xr
cisco ios_xr
cisco ios_xr
cisco ios_xr
cisco ios_xr
cisco ios_xr
cisco ios_xr
cisco ios_xr
cisco ios_xr
cisco ios_xr
cisco ios_xr
cisco ios_xr
cisco ios_xr
cisco ios_xr
cisco ios_xr
cisco ios_xr
cisco ios_xr
cisco ios_xr
cisco ios_xr
cisco ios_xr
cisco ios_xr
cisco ios_xr
cisco ios_xr
cisco ios_xr
cisco ios_xr
cisco ios_xr
cisco ios_xr
cisco ios_xr
cisco ios_xr
cisco ios_xr
cisco ios_xr
cisco ios_xr
cisco ios_xr
cisco ios_xr
cisco ios_xr
cisco ios_xr
cisco ios_xr
cisco ios_xr
cisco ios_xr
cisco ios_xr
cisco ios_xr
cisco ios_xr
cisco ios_xr
cisco ios_xr
cisco ios_xr
cisco ios_xr
cisco ios_xr
cisco ios_xr
cisco ios_xr
cisco ios_xr
cisco ios_xr
cisco ios_xr
cisco ios_xr
cisco ios_xr
cisco ios_xr

References

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2022-20846? +
A vulnerability in the Cisco Discovery Protocol implementation for Cisco IOS XR Software could allow an unauthenticated, adjacent attacker to cause the Cisco Discovery Protocol process to reload on an affected device. This vulnerability is due to a heap buffer overflow in certain Cisco Discovery Protocol messages. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a malicious Cisco Discovery Protocol packet to an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause a heap overflow, which could cause the Cisco Discovery Protocol process to reload on the device. The bytes that can be written in the buffer overflow are restricted, which limits remote code execution.Note: Cisco Discovery Protocol is a Layer 2 protocol. To exploit this vulnerability, an attacker must be in the same broadcast domain as the affected device (Layer 2 adjacent).  Cisco has released software updates that address this vulnerability. There are no workarounds that address this vulnerability.This advisory is part of the September 2022 release of the Cisco IOS XR Software Security Advisory Bundled Publication. For a complete list of the advisories and links to them, see . It has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 4.3 (MEDIUM).
How severe is CVE-2022-20846? +
CVE-2022-20846 has a CVSS v3.1 score of 4.3 out of 10, rated MEDIUM. This is a medium-severity vulnerability that should be remediated as part of regular maintenance.
What products are affected by CVE-2022-20846? +
CVE-2022-20846 affects products from cisco, specifically: ios_xr. Check the affected products table above for specific version ranges.
How do I check if I'm vulnerable to CVE-2022-20846? +
You can use Secably's free Website Scanner to check your website for known vulnerabilities. For infrastructure scanning, use the Port Scanner to identify exposed services that may be affected. Check the vendor advisories linked above for specific patch and version information.

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