# CVE-2022-23176: WatchGuard Firebox and XTM Privilege Escalation Vulnerability

> CVE-2022-23176: WatchGuard Firebox and XTM Privilege Escalation Vulnerability. CVSS 8.8 (CVSS 3.1), in CISA KEV.

Canonical: https://rewindex.com/cve/CVE-2022-23176
Last updated: 2025-10-21T23:15:45Z

- Published: 2022-02-24 00:52 UTC · Updated: 2025-10-21 23:15 UTC · Assigner: mitre
- CVSS: 8.8 (CVSS 3.1) · Severity: High · Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
- EPSS: 10.8%, 96th percentile (scored 2026-10-25)
- CISA KEV: yes, added 2022-04-11, federal due date 2022-05-02, ransomware use: Unknown

## 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.

## CISA required action

Apply updates per vendor instructions.

## Affected vendors and products

- WatchGuard: Firebox and XTM

## References

- [CVE record on cve.org](https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-23176)
- [NVD entry](https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-23176)
- [https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2022/04/watchguard-failed-to-disclose-critical-flaw-exploited-by-russian-hackers/](https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2022/04/watchguard-failed-to-disclose-critical-flaw-exploited-by-russian-hackers/)
- [https://securityportal.watchguard.com](https://securityportal.watchguard.com)
- [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.html](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.html)
- [https://www.watchguard.com/support/release-notes/fireware/12/en-US/EN\_ReleaseNotes\_Fireware\_12\_7\_2/index.html\#Fireware/en-US/resolved\_issues.html](https://www.watchguard.com/support/release-notes/fireware/12/en-US/EN_ReleaseNotes_Fireware_12_7_2/index.html#Fireware/en-US/resolved_issues.html)
- [https://www.watchguard.com/support/release-notes/fireware/12/en-US/EN\_ReleaseNotes\_Fireware\_12\_7/index.html\#Fireware/en-US/resolved\_issues.html](https://www.watchguard.com/support/release-notes/fireware/12/en-US/EN_ReleaseNotes_Fireware_12_7/index.html#Fireware/en-US/resolved_issues.html)

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_Sources: CVE records from the CVE Program (cve.org). CVE® is a registered trademark of The MITRE Corporation. (https://www.cve.org/) This product uses data from the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. (https://nvd.nist.gov/) Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog from CISA. (https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog) EPSS scores from FIRST (Exploit Prediction Scoring System). (https://www.first.org/epss/)_


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Canonical: https://rewindex.com/cve/CVE-2022-23176 · Markdown: https://rewindex.com/cve/CVE-2022-23176.md · JSON: https://rewindex.com/api/v1/cves/CVE-2022-23176 · Data licensed CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) · Generated 2026-10-26T03:10:02.862Z