CVE-2022-23176
8.8, high Known exploitedWatchGuard Firebox and XTM Privilege Escalation Vulnerability
- CVSS
- 8.8, high high CVSS v3.1
- EPSS, next 30 days
- 11% higher than 95.8% of scored CVEs
- Exploitation
- Confirmed in the wild
- Published
- 24 Feb 20224 years ago
Known exploited
CISA added this to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog on 11 Apr 2022. US federal agencies had to remediate by 2 May 2022, a deadline that has passed.
Required action. Apply updates per vendor instructions.
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.
Details
- Vendor
- WatchGuard
- Product
- Fireware
- Weakness
- n/a
- Status
- Analyzed
- Updated
- 17 Jun 2026
- Assigner
- cve@mitre.org
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
References 6
Advisories 5
- arstechnica.com /information-technology/2022/04/watchguard-failed-to-disclose-critical-flaw-exploited-by-russian-hackers/ (opens in a new tab)
- securityportal.watchguard.com (opens in a new tab)
- watchguard.com /support/release-notes/fireware/12/en-US/EN_ReleaseNotes_Fireware_12_1_3_U7/index.html#Fireware/en-US/resolved_issues.html (opens in a new tab)
- watchguard.com /support/release-notes/fireware/12/en-US/EN_ReleaseNotes_Fireware_12_7/index.html#Fireware/en-US/resolved_issues.html (opens in a new tab)
- watchguard.com /support/release-notes/fireware/12/en-US/EN_ReleaseNotes_Fireware_12_7_2/index.html#Fireware/en-US/resolved_issues.html (opens in a new tab)
The kind is read from NVD's tags where present and from the shape of the URL otherwise, so treat it as a hint.
Other WatchGuard CVEs
Every WatchGuard CVE we holdSame vendor in what we hold, not a known link between the flaws.
- CVE-2025-14733 WatchGuard Firebox Out of Bounds Write Vulnerability KEV EPSS 27% 9.8, critical
- CVE-2025-9242 WatchGuard Firebox Out-of-Bounds Write Vulnerability KEV EPSS 92% 9.8, critical
- CVE-2022-26318 WatchGuard Firebox and XTM Appliances Arbitrary Code Execution KEV EPSS 78% 9.8, critical
- CVE-2026-13043 WatchGuard Endpoint Security Missing Authentication for Critical Function Vulnerability EPSS 0.1% 8.8, high
- CVE-2026-86131 WatchGuard Fireware OS Code Injection Vulnerability EPSS 0.4% 9.8, critical
- CVE-2026-13046 WatchGuard Fireware OS Deserialization of Untrusted Data Vulnerability EPSS 0.4% 7.2, high
- CVE-2026-18145 WatchGuard Fireware OS Stack-based Buffer Overflow Vulnerability EPSS 0.4% 7.2, high
- CVE-2026-86104 WatchGuard Fireware OS Uncontrolled Resource Consumption Vulnerability EPSS 0.4% 7.5, high
Beyond this page
Is CVE-2022-23176 in your network?
This page tells you how dangerous CVE-2022-23176 is out there. Whether it sits on one of your devices, only a scan of your own network can tell. That is what our systems do, every day, for the companies we protect.
CVE-2022-23176 is in the CISA catalogue of exploited vulnerabilities: attackers are already exploiting it.
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EXYS7600 OCELOT
Find it before attackers do
Ocelot scans your network on a schedule and reports every vulnerability it finds by its CVE identifier, with its CVSS score and how many of your hosts are affected. A finding like CVE-2022-23176 comes with the devices to patch.
Learn more about EXYS7600 OCELOT -
EXYS7950 KONDRA
Detect it if it's exploited
Until the patch is applied, Kondra monitors your network, events and endpoints in real time. It keeps an inventory of the software installed on every endpoint, and its anomaly detection rules flag what an attacker does once inside.
Learn more about EXYS7950 KONDRA
Assembled from the NVD 2.0 API, the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog and FIRST EPSS. Scores are as of our last collection on 17 Oct 2026, not the live upstream state.