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Report · Cisco TalosAbout CVE-2026-20127Published

Inside KeyDrift: Analyzing historical UAT-11473 activity on Cisco SD-WAN

Affects Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Controller and ManagerSource Cisco Talos

0
Authoritative record:CVE-2026-20127· Critical 10.0

Exploited in the wild · KEV due 27 Feb 2026 · public exploit available (Metasploit) : apply the vendor's fix or mitigations to Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Controller and Manager now.

Data as of 29 Oct 2026, 01:27 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
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 25 Feb 2026

  2. Detectable: no evidence on record.

    No public nuclei template indexed

  3. Weaponised: evidence found.

    1 Metasploit module

  4. Exploited in the wild: evidence found.

    Listed in CISA KEV the same day as disclosure

  5. 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.

    , 140 days before disclosure

  2. CVE published

    on cve.org

    , t = 0

  3. In Threat Radar

    record ingested

    , 6 hours after disclosure

  4. , the same day as disclosure

  5. KEV remediation due

    US federal deadline

    , 2 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 26 Oct 2026.

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

ProductAffectedFixed in
CiscoCisco Catalyst SD-WAN ManagerAffected
  • 17.2.4 – 20.18.2_LI_Images
331 affected builds
Fixed in–

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

Description

Cisco Talos identified UAT-11473, an advanced persistent threat actor exploiting CVE-2026-20127, an authentication bypass in Cisco SD-WAN Catalyst Controller instances. The attacker deployed a custom malware framework named KeyDrift, designed to persistently access and exfiltrate sensitive keying material from SD-WAN control-plane processes. KeyDrift includes components such as PolyFlame, which injects into legitimate controller processes to intercept decrypted control traffic, and LittleFilch, which collects and stages keying material for exfiltration. The malware operates stealthily within the controller environment, leveraging modified service scripts and runit service paths for persistence and execution. Targeting spans space and satellite services, defense, aerospace, and policy research sectors. The threat actor's infrastructure overlaps with the Volt Typhoon group’s covert network.

References

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