What it is
CVE-2022-20821 is an unauthenticated Cisco IOS XR Software Health Check Open Port Vulnerability. A vulnerability in the health check RPM of Cisco IOS XR Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to...
Vulnerability report
Exploited in the wild
Confirmed confidence
In CISA KEV
CVE-2022-20821
Cisco IOS XR Software Health Check Open Port Vulnerability
Cisco IOS XR Software
- Severity
- CVSS 6.5 · Medium
- Confidence
- Confirmed
- Exploit status
- Exploited in the wild
- EPSS
- 11.5%
- First observed
- —
- Last observed
- —
Decision summary
What security teams need to know first
Direct answers before the deeper technical record.
Is it exploited?
Yes. Previdian tracks this CVE as a known exploited vulnerability. Confidence is confirmed. Listed in CISA KEV.
Who is affected?
Cisco IOS XR Software.
What should we do?
Prioritize remediation. Validate affected assets and apply vendor fixes on an accelerated timeline.
Overview
Cisco IOS XR Software Health Check Open Port Vulnerability
A vulnerability in the health check RPM of Cisco IOS XR Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to access the Redis instance that is running within the NOSi container. This vulnerability exists because the health check RPM opens TCP port 6379 by default upon activation. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by connecting to the Redis instance on the open port.
A successful exploit could allow the attacker to write to the Redis in-memory database, write arbitrary files to the container filesystem, and retrieve information about the Redis database. Given the configuration of the sandboxed container that the Redis instance runs in, a remote attacker would be unable to execute remote code or abuse the integrity of the Cisco IOS XR Software host system.
- Published
- 26 May 2022
- Exploitation Reported
- 23 May 2022
- Attack vector
- Remote
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- None
Tags
edge
redis
ios
cisa
CVE References
- CVE Record CVE.org · CVE Record https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-20821
- 20220520 Cisco IOS XR Software Health Check Open Port Vulnerability tools.cisco.com · Vendor Advisory https://tools.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory...
Exploitation evidence
Why Previdian marks this CVE as exploited
Third-party attestation and first-party sensor observation are shown separately so teams can judge the evidence chain.
Exploited in the wild
CISA
A trusted third party reported exploitation.
Known exploited vulnerability sources
Per-source evidence links for KEV attestations are available through the Previdian Pro API.
Learn about Pro API access| Source | Added |
|---|---|
| CISA First | 2022-05-23 00:00 UTC |
Detection
Operational artifacts and observed signals
Make the evidence actionable in scanner, SOC, and edge-control workflows.
Observed signals
- Request targets
- User-Agents
- Callback hosts
- 0
- 0
- 0
Request targets and User-Agents available in Pro. Callback host details available in Enterprise.
Scanner coverage
No scanner integrations recorded yet.
Virtual patch status
No Previdian virtual patch is currently available. Future rules ship for ModSecurity, Cloudflare, and AWS WAF.
Learn about virtual patches →No detection artifacts or sensor request patterns are available for this CVE yet.
Check back as sensor telemetry and scanner integrations are updated.
Risk and context
Severity, weaknesses, and research context
CVSS v3.1
6.5
Medium
Potential damage if exploited. Separate from whether attackers are using it.
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N
EPSS
11.5%
Estimated chance of exploitation in the next 30 days. Previdian's warning comes from evidence, not this score.
Timeline
From disclosure to observed exploitation
-
14:00 UTC
CVE published
Vulnerability disclosed publicly
-
00:00 UTC
Added to CISA KEV
Listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog
-
00:00 UTC
CVE ID reserved
Identifier reserved by the CNA
Pro API
Automate this intelligence
Confidence, exploit status, sensor telemetry, PoCs, scanner integrations, mentions, and tags are available programmatically for VM, SOC, and CTI workflows.
- Evidence confidence and provenance
- First-party sensor telemetry
- PoC and scanner references
- Affected versions and enrichment
- Automation-ready JSON delivery
GET /api/v2/pro/kevs/CVE-2022-20821
Sample API response{
"cve_id": "CVE-2022-20821",
"confidence": "Confirmed",
"cvss_score": 6.5,
"cvss_estimated": false,
"epss_score": 0.11471,
"exploit_status": {
"exploited_in_the_wild": true,
"active_exploitation_observed": false
},
"sensor_telemetry": { "attempts": 0, "sensors": 0 }
}