{"id":"CVE-2022-20798","url":"https://www.cyber-defence.io/tools/cve/CVE-2022-20798","generatedAt":"2026-10-27T17:45:28.459Z","title":"A vulnerability in the external authentication functionality of Cisco Secure Email and Web Manager, formerly known as Cisco Security Management Appliance (SMA), and Cisco Email Security Appliance (ESA) could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to…","description":"A vulnerability in the external authentication functionality of Cisco Secure Email and Web Manager, formerly known as Cisco Security Management Appliance (SMA), and Cisco Email Security Appliance (ESA) could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to bypass authentication and log in to the web management interface of an affected device. This vulnerability is due to improper authentication checks when an affected device uses Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) for external authentication. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by entering a specific input on the login page of the affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to gain unauthorized access to the web-based management interface of the affected device.","published":"2022-06-15T18:15:09.000Z","lastModified":"2026-06-17T04:25:08.000Z","status":"Modified","sourceIdentifier":"psirt@cisco.com","cvss":{"version":"3.1","score":9.8,"severity":"CRITICAL","vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H"},"cwe":["CWE-287"],"affected":["cisco/email security appliance","cisco/secure email and web manager"],"epss":{"score":0.01538,"percentile":0.74701,"date":"2026-10-26","history":[]},"kev":{"listed":false},"exploits":{"count":0,"verified":false,"firstPublished":null,"source":"Exploit-DB (https://gitlab.com/exploit-database/exploitdb)","entries":[]},"verdict":{"level":"high","text":"High impact if exploited, but EPSS currently rates exploitation as unlikely (1.54%). Schedule it in the normal patch cycle and watch for a rise in EPSS or a public exploit."},"changes":[],"references":[{"url":"https://tools.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-sma-esa-auth-bypass-66kEcxQD","tags":["Vendor Advisory"],"source":"psirt@cisco.com"},{"url":"https://tools.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-sma-esa-auth-bypass-66kEcxQD","tags":["Vendor Advisory"],"source":"af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108"}],"sources":{"nvd":"https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-20798","epss":"https://www.first.org/epss/","kev":"https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog","exploitdb":"https://www.exploit-db.com/"},"licence":"CC BY 4.0 — link back to the CVE Explorer if you publish the results; upstream data remains subject to its own terms."}