Threats / Citrix / CVE-2022-27518
CVE-2022-27518
· EUVD no mirror located
· GCVE no mirror located
Verified 2026-08-04
Citrix Application Delivery Controller (ADC) and Gateway vulnerability
Citrix ADC and Gateway contain an authentication bypass vulnerability in SAML configurations that allows attackers to execute code with administrator privileges.
Verdict
Today item — known-exploited.
An unauthenticated attacker can bypass SAML authentication controls on affected Citrix ADC and Gateway instances to gain administrative code execution, posing critical risk to infrastructure security.
CISA KEV Yes · 2022-12-135EPSS 0.06875 (verify live)6CVSS 9.83CISA SSVC Exploitation: active · Automatable: yes · Impact: total4
01
Is it exploitable?
— the evidence, ranked above the scoreReported exploitation
11 independent public reports 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 2022-12-13).
Probability (EPSS)
EPSS 0.06875 — modeled likelihood of exploitation activity.EPSS is a daily-changing model output — open the source for today's value.
Severity / affected
CVSS 9.8 (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H) · Affected: Citrix, Application Delivery Controller (ADC) and Gateway. Confirm exact fixed builds in the vendor advisory.CVSS — CNA-assigned (CVE.org), version 3.1, set at disclosure.
Weakness (CWE)
Mapped to CWE-664 CWE-664.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 the same day 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.
WeaknessCWE-664 · CWE-664
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 identify a Citrix ADC or Gateway instance with SAML SP or IdP configuration enabled.
Business
The organization relies on SAML authentication as a security control for administrative access.
2
Keys to the kingdom — privilege/identity takeover narrative 2
Attacker
I craft a request that exploits the authentication bypass flaw to circumvent SAML validation.
Business
Authentication mechanisms fail to properly validate user identity before granting access.
3
Lateral reach — past segmentation narrative 3
Attacker
I gain unauthenticated access to the administrative interface of the appliance.
Business
An unauthorized party obtains entry to sensitive management functions without credentials.
4
Data at risk — exfiltration narrative 4
Attacker
I execute arbitrary code with administrator privileges on the affected system.
Business
The attacker achieves full control of the appliance and can modify configurations, access data, or pivot to internal networks.
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