CVE-2022-23176
WatchGuard Firebox and XTM Privilege Escalation Vulnerability
Does this matter?
Known to be exploited in the wild (CISA KEV, CISA remediation deadline 2 May 2022). Treat as an emergency change: patch or isolate now, then hunt for prior compromise.
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.
- CVSS 3.1
- 8.8 HIGHCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
- EPSS
- 10.80% probability · 96th percentile
- Public exploits
- None in Exploit-DB
- CISA KEV
- Listed 11 April 2022 · due 2 May 2022
- Affected
- watchguard/fireware
- Source
- cve@mitre.org
EPSS moved from 10.8% on 24 September 2026 to 10.8% on 30 October 2026. The dashed line is the ten per cent mark our analysts treat as “patch before the next change window”.
CISA notes
Apply updates per vendor instructions. https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-23176
References
- https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2022/04/watchguard-failed-to-disclose-critical-flaw-exploited-by-russian-hackers/Third Party Advisory
- https://securityportal.watchguard.comVendor Advisory
- 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.htmlRelease Notes, Vendor Advisory
- https://www.watchguard.com/support/release-notes/fireware/12/en-US/EN_ReleaseNotes_Fireware_12_7/index.html#Fireware/en-US/resolved_issues.htmlRelease Notes, Vendor Advisory
- https://www.watchguard.com/support/release-notes/fireware/12/en-US/EN_ReleaseNotes_Fireware_12_7_2/index.html#Fireware/en-US/resolved_issues.htmlRelease Notes, Vendor Advisory
- https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2022/04/watchguard-failed-to-disclose-critical-flaw-exploited-by-russian-hackers/Third Party Advisory
- https://securityportal.watchguard.comVendor Advisory
- 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.htmlRelease Notes, Vendor Advisory
- https://www.watchguard.com/support/release-notes/fireware/12/en-US/EN_ReleaseNotes_Fireware_12_7/index.html#Fireware/en-US/resolved_issues.htmlRelease Notes, Vendor Advisory
- https://www.watchguard.com/support/release-notes/fireware/12/en-US/EN_ReleaseNotes_Fireware_12_7_2/index.html#Fireware/en-US/resolved_issues.htmlRelease Notes, Vendor Advisory
- https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2022-23176US Government Resource
Source: NVD record, EPSS from FIRST.org, KEV from CISA, exploits from Exploit-DB. Refreshed daily. Download this record as JSON.