cannot connect jboss-cli port

Server is in DMZ (not sure what kind of security practice is in place):
Linux sdpvvrwm903 3.10.0-327.13.1.el7.x86_64 #1 SMP Mon Feb 29 13:22:02 EST 2016 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

Jboss:
JBoss EAP 6.4.0.GA (AS 7.5.0.Final-redhat-21)

Symptom:
I tried to apply patch 6.4.7 to this Jboss EAP installation but jboss-cli failed to connect.

The port is up:
-bash-4.2$ netstat -na | grep 9999
tcp 0 0 192.168.22.23:9999 0.0.0.0:* LISTEN
-bash-4.2$ ./jboss-cli.sh -c --controller=192.168.22.23:9999
org.jboss.as.cli.CliInitializationException: Failed to connect to the controller
at org.jboss.as.cli.impl.CliLauncher.initCommandContext(CliLauncher.java:299)
at org.jboss.as.cli.impl.CliLauncher.main(CliLauncher.java:277)
at org.jboss.as.cli.CommandLineMain.main(CommandLineMain.java:45)
at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke0(Native Method)
at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(NativeMethodAccessorImpl.java:62)
at sun.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.java:43)
at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:498)
at org.jboss.modules.Module.run(Module.java:312)
at org.jboss.modules.Main.main(Main.java:473)
Caused by: org.jboss.as.cli.CommandLineException: The controller is not available at 192.168.42.53:9999
at org.jboss.as.cli.impl.CommandContextImpl.tryConnection(CommandContextImpl.java:1057)
at org.jboss.as.cli.impl.CommandContextImpl.connectController(CommandContextImpl.java:887)
at org.jboss.as.cli.impl.CommandContextImpl.connectController(CommandContextImpl.java:863)
at org.jboss.as.cli.impl.CliLauncher.initCommandContext(CliLauncher.java:297)
... 8 more
Caused by: java.io.IOException: java.net.ConnectException: JBAS012144: Could not connect to remote://192.168.42.53:9999. The connection timed out
at org.jboss.as.controller.client.impl.AbstractModelControllerClient.executeForResult(AbstractModelControllerClient.java:149)
at org.jboss.as.controller.client.impl.AbstractModelControllerClient.execute(AbstractModelControllerClient.java:75)
at org.jboss.as.cli.impl.CommandContextImpl.tryConnection(CommandContextImpl.java:1035)
... 11 more
Caused by: java.net.ConnectException: JBAS012144: Could not connect to remote://192.168.42.53:9999. The connection timed out
at org.jboss.as.protocol.ProtocolConnectionUtils.connectSync(ProtocolConnectionUtils.java:135)
at org.jboss.as.protocol.ProtocolConnectionManager$EstablishingConnection.connect(ProtocolConnectionManager.java:256)
at org.jboss.as.protocol.ProtocolConnectionManager.connect(ProtocolConnectionManager.java:70)
at org.jboss.as.protocol.mgmt.FutureManagementChannel$Establishing.getChannel(FutureManagementChannel.java:208)
at org.jboss.as.cli.impl.CLIModelControllerClient.getOrCreateChannel(CLIModelControllerClient.java:169)
at org.jboss.as.cli.impl.CLIModelControllerClient$2.getChannel(CLIModelControllerClient.java:129)
at org.jboss.as.protocol.mgmt.ManagementChannelHandler.executeRequest(ManagementChannelHandler.java:123)
at org.jboss.as.protocol.mgmt.ManagementChannelHandler.executeRequest(ManagementChannelHandler.java:98)
at org.jboss.as.controller.client.impl.AbstractModelControllerClient.executeRequest(AbstractModelControllerClient.java:263)
at org.jboss.as.controller.client.impl.AbstractModelControllerClient.execute(AbstractModelControllerClient.java:168)
at org.jboss.as.controller.client.impl.AbstractModelControllerClient.executeForResult(AbstractModelControllerClient.java:147)
... 13 more
-bash-4.2$