[KEV] Authentication Bypass in Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN (CVE-2026-20182)
Summary
Authentication bypass in Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN (CVE-2026-20182). Successful exploitation can lead to full system takeover. Listed in CISA KEV — actively exploited.
Original description
The description as published by the source.
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, and Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Manager, formerly SD-WAN vManage, 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.
Source: Cisco Security Advisories NVD GitHub Advisory CISA KEV
Auto-generated summary
Assembled by SecPulse from the source data (CVSS, CWE, affected versions) using templates — no AI involved. Check the original description and references below for exact details.
A vulnerability tracked as CVE-2026-20182 has been found in Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN.
Successful exploitation can lead to full system takeover. CVSS score: 10.0/10.
Note: CISA has officially confirmed this is actively exploited in the wild. Treat it with elevated urgency.
What to do: apply the vendor's official patched release.
If unsure, ask your IT team or search "Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN CVE-2026-20182" on the vendor's site.
CVE-2026-20182 (Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN) — CWE-287 / CVSS v3 10.0
Attack vector: remote (network-reachable) / unauthenticated / no user interaction
Listed in CISA KEV — actively exploited, treat as top priority.
Plan: 1) Audit SBOM/dependencies, 2) Stage→prod upgrade, 3) Add WAF/proxy monitoring on affected endpoints, 4) Hunt IOCs in logs.
Refs: see the GHSA / vendor advisory / patched release linked on this page.
Authentication bypass (CWE-287) exists in Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN.
Check the vendor advisory for the affected versions of Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN.
Severity: Critical (CVSS 10.0/10). Successful exploitation can lead to full system takeover. Listed in CISA KEV — actively exploited in the wild, treat as top priority.
Update to the patched release per vendor advisory.
Until the patch is applied: disable the affected feature, apply WAF rules, or restrict access via network ACLs.
Search webserver/proxy logs for unusual request patterns matching this CVE's known IOCs. Audit SBOM/dependencies to find affected services.
Response actions
Concrete steps and command examples for SOC/SRE teams to execute in order
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1Identify exposure identify
Audit SBOM/dependencies for affected components.資産台帳・SBOM・依存マニフェストで Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN を使っているサービスとバージョンを洗い出す。
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2Consider incident declaration escalate
Notify SOC / on-callCISA KEV登録済 = 実環境で悪用が観測されている。侵入の兆候があればインシデント対応宣言、無くてもパッチ適用までWAF強化を最優先で。
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3Post-deployment verification verify
Confirm patched version is live in productionパッチ適用後、ステージングで PoC または同等の悪用パターンを再現して脆弱性が閉じたことを確認。本番ではアクセスログ・WAF でアラート再発が無いか継続監視。
References
- advisory NVD
- CISCO sec.cloudapps.cisco.com
- CISCO sec.cloudapps.cisco.com
- CISCO sec.cloudapps.cisco.com
- patch psirt@cisco.com
- web psirt@cisco.com
- web cisa.gov
- web github.com