Threats / Cisco / CVE-2022-20701
CVE-2022-20701
· EUVD no mirror located
· GCVE no mirror located
Verified 2026-08-04
Cisco Small Business RV160, RV260, RV340, and RV345 Series R vulnerability
A stack-based buffer overflow in Cisco Small Business RV routers enables unauthenticated remote code execution, privilege escalation, and denial of service.
Verdict
Today item — known-exploited.
Stack buffer overflow (CWE-121) in Cisco Small Business RV160, RV260, RV340, and RV345 routers permits unauthenticated attackers to execute arbitrary code with device privileges, bypass authentication controls, and disrupt network operations.
CISA KEV Yes · 2022-03-035EPSS 0.09747 (verify live)6CVSS 103CISA SSVC Exploitation: active · Automatable: yes · Impact: total4
01
Is it exploitable?
— the evidence, ranked above the scoreReported exploitation
1 independent public report of in-the-wild exploitation are cataloged.Distinct reporting sources (vendor, incident response, government); open them for the underlying claims.
Exploited in the wild
Listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog (added 2022-03-03).
Probability (EPSS)
EPSS 0.09747 — modeled likelihood of exploitation activity.EPSS is a daily-changing model output — open the source for today's value.
Severity / affected
CVSS 10 (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H) · Affected: Cisco, Small Business RV160, RV260, RV340, and RV345 Series Routers. Confirm exact fixed builds in the vendor advisory.CVSS — CNA-assigned (CVE.org), version 3.1, set at disclosure.
Weakness (CWE)
Mapped to CWE-121 Stack-based Buffer Overflow — weakness family: Memory safety.CWE — CNA-assigned (CVE.org); the weakness class drives how the flaw is exploited.
CISA SSVC (triage disposition)
Exploitation: active · Automatable: yes · Technical Impact: totalCISA's own stakeholder-specific triage inputs, published in the CVE record (CISA Coordinator role). NOTE: this is CISA's three decision points; the final Act/Attend/Track decision also requires a Mission & Well-being input not published here, so no overall decision is asserted.
Currency of the record
CISA added this to its KEV catalog 21 days after the CVE record was published.KEV lag = CISA-KEV dateAdded − CVE.org datePublished; a floor on how long the known-exploited flaw sat in the public record before the federal catalog listed it. Severity/weakness here is CNA- or CISA-assigned (current at disclosure), independent of NVD's analysis backlog.
02
Who’s exploiting it?
— attribution turns risk into urgencyAttribution not established
No confirmed (advisory-backed) threat-actor attribution is established for this record. Absence of a named actor is not absence of compromise — see Coverage & confidence.
03
Why it matters
— the attack path, told twice: adversary, then board1
Front door — unauthenticated access narrative 1
Attacker
I craft a malicious network request targeting the vulnerable buffer in the router's input handler.
Business
Attacker gains initial network access to the device without credentials.
2
Keys to the kingdom — privilege/identity takeover narrative 2
Attacker
I overflow the stack buffer to overwrite return addresses and inject shellcode for arbitrary code execution.
Business
Attacker achieves remote code execution with full device privileges.
3
Lateral reach — past segmentation narrative 3
Attacker
I execute commands to modify firmware, disable security features, or establish persistent access.
Business
Attacker maintains control of critical network infrastructure and can pivot to internal systems.
4
Data at risk — exfiltration narrative 4
Attacker
I trigger a denial of service condition by crashing the router or exhausting resources.
Business
Network connectivity is disrupted, causing business downtime and operational impact.
04
What to do
— defensible action- Remediate per the vendor advisory — confirm the fixed build for your version and verify exposure.1
Say it to the boardA vulnerability with this evidence profile is a defensible budget line, not a backlog ticket — fund the change against the proof above.
05