VulnerabilityPublished 25 Feb 2026Updated 21 Apr 2026

CVE-2026-20122: Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Manager · Incorrect Use of Privileged APIs

Affects Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN ManagerSource CVE Database V5

Exploited in the wild · KEV due 23 Apr 2026 · 25% EPSS : apply the vendor's fix or mitigations to Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Manager now.

Data as of 30 Oct 2026, 06:59 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

5.4Medium

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

KEV deadline: 23 Apr 2026 US federal agencies must patch by this date; a sensible deadline for everyone else. Other KEV due dates
EPSS: 25.8% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 97% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: Low
User Interaction: None
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: Low
Integrity: Low
Availability: None

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Network: The vulnerable component is bound to the network stack and the set of possible attackers extends beyond the other options listed, up to and including the entire Internet. Such a vulnerability is often termed 'remotely exploitable' and can be thought of as an attack being exploitable at the protocol level one or more network hops away (e.g., across one or more routers).
Attack Complexity: Low: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
Privileges Required: Low: The attacker is authorized with (i.e., requires) privileges that provide basic user capabilities that could normally affect only settings and files owned by a user. Alternatively, an attacker with Low privileges may have the ability to cause an impact only to non-sensitive resources.
User Interaction: None: The vulnerable system can be exploited without any interaction from any user.
Scope: Unchanged: An exploited vulnerability can only affect resources managed by the same security authority. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are either the same, or both are managed by the same security authority.
Confidentiality: Low: There is some loss of confidentiality. Access to some restricted information is obtained, but the attacker does not have control over what information is obtained, or the amount or kind of loss is limited. The information disclosure does not cause a direct, serious loss to the impacted component.
Integrity: Low: Modification of data is possible, but the attacker does not have control over the consequence of a modification, or the amount of modification is limited. The data modification does not have a direct, serious impact on the impacted component.
Availability: None: There is no impact to availability within the impacted component.

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

t = 0 is the CVE’s publication on cve.org

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 25 Feb 2026
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponized: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: evidence found.
Listed in CISA KEV 54 days after disclosure
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

CVE ID reserved
by Cisco Systems, Inc.
8 Oct 202511:59 UTC, 140 days before disclosure
CVE published
on cve.org
25 Feb 202616:14 UTC, t = 0
In Threat Radar
record ingested
25 Feb 202621:43 UTC, 5 hours after disclosure
Added to CISA KEV (opens in a new tab)
exploitation confirmed
20 Apr 2026, 54 days after disclosure
KEV remediation due
US federal deadline
23 Apr 2026, 57 days after disclosure

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), CISA KEV (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 29 Oct 2026.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponized: A Metasploit exploit module or Exploit-DB entry exists (Metasploit scanner modules do not count), or CISA SSVC or the CVSS exploit maturity reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

Please adhere to CISA’s guidelines to assess exposure and mitigate risks associated with Cisco SD-WAN devices as outlines in CISA’s Emergency Directive 26-03 (URL listed below in Notes) and CISA’s “Hunt & Hardening Guidance for Cisco SD-WAN Devices (URL listed below in Notes). Adhere to the applicable BOD 22-01 guidance for cloud services or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are not available.

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
CiscoCisco Catalyst SD-WAN Manager	Affected 17.2.4 – 20.18.2_LI_Images 331 affected builds	Fixed in–

Check the firmware or software version for Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Manager in the device's admin interface against the vendor advisory.

Description

CVE-2026-20122 is a medium severity vulnerability in Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Manager's API that allows an authenticated remote attacker with valid read-only API credentials to overwrite arbitrary files on the local file system. This occurs due to improper file handling in the API interface. Successful exploitation can lead to the attacker gaining elevated vmanage user privileges.

Impact

An attacker with valid read-only API credentials can overwrite arbitrary files on the affected system, potentially gaining elevated privileges as the vmanage user. This could compromise the integrity of the system and its configuration. There is no indication of impact on availability. No known exploits in the wild have been reported.

Mitigation

Until a fix is available, restrict API access to trusted users and consider additional access controls to limit exposure.

CWE-648Incorrect Use of Privileged APIs (opens in a new tab)
Base weaknessLikelihood of exploit: Low
The product does not conform to the API requirements for a function call that requires extra privileges. This could allow attackers to gain privileges by causing the function to be called incorrectly.
Implementation
Before calling privileged APIs, always ensure that the assumptions made by the privileged code hold true prior to making the call.
Architecture and Design
Know architecture and implementation weaknesses of the privileged APIs and make sure to account for these weaknesses before calling the privileged APIs to ensure that they can be called safely.
Implementation
If privileged APIs make certain assumptions about data, context or state validity that are passed by the caller, the calling code must ensure that these assumptions have been validated prior to making the call.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
Docker Security (opens in a new tab)
Third Party Javascript Management (opens in a new tab)
Virtual Patching (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V1.4.4 (opens in a new tab)
V1.4.5 (opens in a new tab)
V1.10.1 (opens in a new tab)
Attack patterns
Cross Site Tracing (opens in a new tab)
Hijacking a privileged process (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

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Exploitation evidence

Timeline

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 28 Apr 2026, 06:09 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-648

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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