SOC status:Duty analyst on shift

UK Cyber Defence
VulnerabilityModified

CVE-2022-20837

A vulnerability in the DNS application layer gateway (ALG) functionality that is used by Network Address Translation (NAT) in Cisco IOS XE Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to cause an affected device to reload.

HIGH 8.6EPSS 1.02%

Does this matter?

High impact if exploited, but EPSS currently rates exploitation as unlikely (1.02%). Schedule it in the normal patch cycle and watch for a rise in EPSS or a public exploit.

Description

A vulnerability in the DNS application layer gateway (ALG) functionality that is used by Network Address Translation (NAT) in Cisco IOS XE Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to cause an affected device to reload. This vulnerability is due to a logic error that occurs when an affected device inspects certain TCP DNS packets. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending crafted DNS packets through the affected device that is performing NAT for DNS packets. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause the device to reload, resulting in a denial of service (DoS) condition on the affected device. Note: This vulnerability can be exploited only by sending IPv4 TCP packets through an affected device. This vulnerability cannot be exploited by sending IPv6 traffic.

CVSS 3.1
8.6 HIGHCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H
EPSS
1.02% probability · 63th percentile
Public exploits
None in Exploit-DB
CISA KEV
Not listed
Weakness
CWE-754
Affected
cisco/ios xe
Source
psirt@cisco.com
EPSS trend
0%3%5%26 October 2026: 1.02%26 October 202626 October 2026

EPSS 1.0% since 26 October 2026; no change recorded yet. Points are recorded when the score first appears and whenever it moves by a percentage point or more.

Source: NVD record, EPSS from FIRST.org, KEV from CISA, exploits from Exploit-DB. Refreshed daily. Download this record as JSON.