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VulnerabilityPublished Updated

CVE-2026-20182: Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Controller · Improper Authentication

Affects Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN ControllerSource CVE Database V5

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Exploited in the wild · KEV due 17 May 2026 · 91% EPSS : apply the vendor's fix or mitigations to Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Controller now.

Data as of 30 Oct 2026, 06:59 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score
10.0Critical
How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.
KEV deadline
 US federal agencies must patch by this date; a sensible deadline for everyone else. Other KEV due dates
EPSS
91.8% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 99% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H

Exploitation evidence

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

  1. Disclosed: evidence found.

    CVE published 14 May 2026

  2. Detectable: no evidence on record.

    No public nuclei template indexed

  3. Exploited in the wild: evidence found.

    Listed in CISA KEV the same day as disclosure

  4. Observed by OffSeq Mirage: no evidence on record.

    No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

Timeline

  1. CVE ID reserved

    by Cisco Systems, Inc.

    , 218 days before disclosure

  2. CVE published

    on cve.org

    , t = 0

  3. In Threat Radar

    record ingested

    , 43 minutes after disclosure

  4. , the same day as disclosure

  5. KEV remediation due

    US federal deadline

    , 3 days after disclosure

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

What to do

Please adhere to CISA’s guidelines to assess exposure and mitigate risks associated with Cisco SD-WAN devices as outlined 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

ProductAffectedFixed in
CiscoCisco Catalyst SD-WAN ControllerAffected
  • 17.2.4 – 20.16.1
129 affected builds
Fixed in–
CiscoCisco Catalyst SD-WAN ManagerAffected
  • 17.2.5 – 20.3.2
34 affected builds
Fixed in–

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

Description

May 2026: This security advisory provides the details and fix information for a vulnerability that was discovered and fixed after the was disclosed in February 2026. This new advisory is for a new vulnerability in the control connection handshaking. The section of this advisory includes Show Control Connections guidance to help with system checks.  A vulnerability in the peering authentication in Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Controller, formerly SD-WAN vSmart, Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Manager, formerly SD-WAN vManage, and Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Validator, formerly SD-WAN vBond, could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to bypass authentication and obtain administrative privileges on an affected system. This vulnerability exists because the peering authentication mechanism in an affected system is not working properly. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending crafted requests to the affected system. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to log in to an affected Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Controller as an internal, high-privileged, non-root user account. Using this account, the attacker could access NETCONF, which would then allow the attacker to manipulate network configuration for the SD-WAN fabric.

References

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