CVE-2022-23176WatchGuard Firebox and XTM appliances allow a remote attacker with unprivileged credentials to access the system with a privileged…
- 8.8HighCVSS base score
- 10.9%Exploitation in 30 daysEPSS · top 4.1% of all CVEs
- YesKnown exploitedin CISA's KEV since 11 Apr 2022
- YesPublic exploitsa reference or SSVC says so
Description
WatchGuard Firebox and XTM appliances allow a remote attacker with unprivileged credentials to access the system with a privileged management session via exposed management access. This vulnerability impacts Fireware OS before 12.7.2_U1, 12.x before 12.1.3_U3, and 12.2.x through 12.5.x before 12.5.7_U3.
Exploited in the wild
CISA lists this vulnerability in its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog as WatchGuard Firebox and XTM Privilege Escalation Vulnerability.
- Added
- 11 Apr 2022
- Fix due (US federal)
- 2 May 2022
- Used by ransomware
- Not known
Apply updates per vendor instructions.
ENISA's EU Vulnerability Database lists it as exploited, from CISA's KEV, since 11 Apr 2022.
Public exploit
An exploit or proof of concept is public: anyone can try it against an unpatched system. CISA's SSVC rates its exploitation: it is being exploited.
Timeline
ID reserved
By mitre
- 43 days later
· 43 days later
Published
- 46 days later
· 46 days later
Added to CISA KEV
Known exploited in the wild
- 4 years later
· 4 years later
Record updated
Changes after publication (a new score, a public exploit, EPSS crossing 1, 10 or 50 %, leaving KEV) are kept since November 2026; earlier ones are not known.
Scores
| Scored by | CVSS | Score | Vector |
|---|---|---|---|
| CISA-ADPADP (enrichment) | 3.1 | High8.8 | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H |
| NVDNVD · Analyzed | 3.1 | High8.8 | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H |
- EPSS (exploitation in 30 days)
- 10.9% · top 4.1% of all CVEs (15 Nov 2026)
- CISA SSVC
- Exploitation: active · Automatable: no · Technical impact: total
The list uses the assigner's score when there is one, then CISA's, then NVD's: High 8.8.
Affected products
n/a
- affected n/a
References
References6
- https://securityportal.watchguard.com (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_MISCx_transferred
- https://www.watchguard.com/support/release-notes/fireware/12/en-US/EN_ReleaseNotes_Fireware_12_7/index.html#Fireware/en-US/resolved_issues.html (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_CONFIRMx_transferred
- https://www.watchguard.com/support/release-notes/fireware/12/en-US/EN_ReleaseNotes_Fireware_12_7_2/index.html#Fireware/en-US/resolved_issues.html (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_MISCx_transferred
- https://www.watchguard.com/support/release-notes/fireware/12/en-US/EN_ReleaseNotes_Fireware_12_1_3_U7/index.html#Fireware/en-US/resolved_issues.html (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_MISCx_transferred
- https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2022/04/watchguard-failed-to-disclose-critical-flaw-exploited-by-russian-hackers/ (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_MISCx_transferred
- https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2022-23176 (opens in a new tab)government-resource
Sources
The same CVE in the primary databases and aggregators, to check against.
- CVE.org record (opens in a new tab)
- CVE List JSON (GitHub) (opens in a new tab)
- NVD (opens in a new tab)
- CISA KEV catalog (opens in a new tab)
- FIRST EPSS (opens in a new tab)
- EUVD EUVD-2022-28267 (opens in a new tab)
- OSV.dev (opens in a new tab)
- GitHub Advisories (opens in a new tab)
- CIRCL Vulnerability-Lookup (opens in a new tab)
Badge for a README or a ticket
[](https://cveledger.app/cve/CVE-2022-23176)Record last updated .