CVE-2022-20676
Cisco IOS XE Software Tool Command Language Privilege Escalation Vulnerability
A vulnerability in the Tool Command Language (Tcl) interpreter of Cisco IOS XE Software could allow an authenticated, local attacker to escalate from privilege level 15 to root-level privileges. This vulnerability is due to insufficient input validation of data that is passed into the Tcl interpreter. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by loading malicious Tcl code on an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary commands as root. By default, Tcl shell access requires privilege level 15.
Attack profile
How easy it is to exploit
- Attack vector
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges needed
- High
- User interaction
- None
What an attacker can affect
- Confidentiality
- Low
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- None
Exploit likelihood
What each source reports
CVE List Score used
Cisco IOS XE Software Tool Command Language Privilege Escalation Vulnerability
A vulnerability in the Tool Command Language (Tcl) interpreter of Cisco IOS XE Software could allow an authenticated, local attacker to escalate from privilege level 15 to root-level privileges. This vulnerability is due to insufficient input validation of data that is passed into the Tcl interpreter. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by loading malicious Tcl code on an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary commands as root. By default, Tcl shell access requires privilege level 15.
- Record
CVE-2022-20676- CVSS 3.1
- 5.1 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:H/A:N - Weakness
- CWE-250
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2022-25926
A vulnerability in the Tool Command Language (Tcl) interpreter of Cisco IOS XE Software could allow an authenticated, local attacker to escalate from privilege level 15 to root-level privileges. This vulnerability is due to insufficient input validation of data that is passed into the Tcl interpreter. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by loading malicious Tcl code on an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary commands as root. By default, Tcl shell access requires privilege level 15.
- Record
EUVD-2022-25926- CVSS 3.1
- 5.1 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:H/A:N - Updated
- 2026-11-03
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-mm24-m3qx-g7j8
A vulnerability in the Tool Command Language (Tcl) interpreter of Cisco IOS XE Software could...
A vulnerability in the Tool Command Language (Tcl) interpreter of Cisco IOS XE Software could allow an authenticated, local attacker to escalate from privilege level 15 to root-level privileges. This vulnerability is due to insufficient input validation of data that is passed into the Tcl interpreter. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by loading malicious Tcl code on an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary commands as root. By default, Tcl shell access requires privilege level 15.
- Record
GHSA-mm24-m3qx-g7j8- CVSS 3.1
- 6.7 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-20, CWE-250
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
NVD
A vulnerability in the Tool Command Language (Tcl) interpreter of Cisco IOS XE Software could allow an authenticated, local attacker to escalate from privilege level 15 to root-level privileges. This vulnerability is due to insufficient input validation of data that is passed into the Tcl interpreter. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by loading malicious Tcl code on an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary commands as root. By default, Tcl shell access requires privilege level 15.
- Record
CVE-2022-20676- CVSS 3.1
- 5.1 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:H/A:N - CVSS 3.1
- 6.7 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - CVSS 2.0
- 7.2 High
AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C - Weakness
- CWE-250, CWE-20
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
Affected products
History
| Recorded | Changed | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| aliases, published | EUVD | |
| first indexed | CVE List, GitHub Advisories, NVD |
Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.
In short
CVE-2022-20676 is a medium vulnerability (CVSS 5.1) in Cisco Ios Xe Software, published April 15, 2022. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 0.28%, the 21st percentile. No source names a fixed version.