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NVD / CVE Program· CNA cisco

CVE-2026-20079: Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center Authentication Bypass Remote Code Execution Vulnerability

Noroxi assessment

Priority: Now (action score 97/100)

  • CISA has confirmed exploitation in the wild (Sep 9, 2026). Remediation deadline for US federal agencies: Sep 12, 2026.
  • A ready-made attack module is public (Metasploit, Nuclei); exploiting it takes no special expertise.
  • Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days: 88.6% (FIRST EPSS); higher than 99.7% of all records.
  • Anyone who can reach it over the internet can trigger it. No account or password is required. No user action is required. No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.
  • According to CISA the attack is automatable: targets can be found by mass scanning.
  • According to the record, no fixed version is available yet.

Patch today or shut off access. Until a fix is released, restrict access to the affected component and follow the vendor's advisory.

Generated automatically from the record's data: CVSS (NVD and CNA), CISA KEV and SSVC, FIRST EPSS, exploit sources, fixed versions. How we calculate it

Primary sources: NVD · CVE.org · CISA KEV · FIRST EPSS

A vulnerability in the web interface of Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center (FMC) Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to bypass authentication and execute script files on an affected device to obtain root access to the underlying operating system.  This vulnerability is due to an improper system process that is created at boot time. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending crafted HTTP requests to an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute a variety of scripts and commands that allow root access to the device. 

CriticalCVSS 10.0 · v3.1KEVWeaponized No fix recorded
Published
Mar 4, 2026
Updated
Sep 16, 2026
EPSS
88.6% · 99th percentile

Report tools

JSON

Action score

97

Now

Patch today or shut off access.

CVSS
40 / 40 · 10.0 / 10
CISA KEV
30 / 30 · Listed
EPSS
27 / 30 · 88.6%

CISA SSVC decision

Exploitation
active
Automatable
yes
Technical impact
total

Vulnrichment: CISA's decision-tree inputs.

CNA vs NVD score

NVD
—
CNA · cisco
10.0
NVD has not scored this yet; the score shown is the CNA’s.

The score given by the assigning authority versus NVD’s independent score. A gap means the severity is contested.

Actively exploited in the wild

CISA added this to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on Sep 9, 2026. That signals real attacks, not theory.

Remediation deadline for US federal agencies: Sep 12, 2026.

Get told when this record changes

  • In CISA KEV: exploitation in the wild confirmed
  • Weaponized exploit exists
  • No fixed version yet

If any of these changes, we'll tell you in the daily email digest.

Follow CVE-2026-20079

When you'll hear from us

  • when it enters CISA KEV
  • when exploit code appears or is weaponized
  • when the record is updated (including a fixed version)
  • when EPSS rises 20 points in a week

One daily email digest (06:00 UTC); connect a webhook for KEV listings and weaponized exploits instantly.

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Noroxi analysis

What does it mean in your environment?

The assessment above is generated automatically from the record's data; it doesn't know your environment. Our team verifies on your systems whether this vulnerability is actually exploitable and which mitigation is enough.

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Affected systems

Is your version affected?

Pick the product and type the version you run. It's compared with this record's version ranges in your browser; the version isn't sent anywhere.

VendorProduct
ciscosecure firewall management center

Affected versions

NVD version ranges (for catalog products). Add the product to your stack with a version and matching uses these.

  • cisco secure firewall management center10.0.0
  • cisco secure firewall management center10.0.1
  • cisco secure firewall management center7.0.0
  • cisco secure firewall management center7.0.0.1
  • cisco secure firewall management center7.0.1
  • cisco secure firewall management center7.0.1.1
  • cisco secure firewall management center7.0.2
  • cisco secure firewall management center7.0.2.1
  • cisco secure firewall management center7.0.3
  • cisco secure firewall management center7.0.4
  • cisco secure firewall management center7.0.5
  • cisco secure firewall management center7.0.6
  • cisco secure firewall management center7.0.6.1
  • cisco secure firewall management center7.0.6.2
  • cisco secure firewall management center7.0.6.3
  • cisco secure firewall management center7.0.7
  • cisco secure firewall management center7.0.8
  • cisco secure firewall management center7.0.8.1
  • cisco secure firewall management center7.0.9
  • cisco secure firewall management center7.1.0

Versions reported by the vendor

Affected version ranges reported by the assigning authority (cisco). Independent of NVD's CPE analysis and usually ahead of it.

  • Cisco Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center (FMC)

    • 7.0.0, 7.0.0.1, 7.0.1, 7.1.0, 7.0.1.1, 7.1.0.1, 7.0.2, 7.2.0, 7.0.2.1, 7.0.3, 7.1.0.2, 7.2.0.1 … (+28)affected

Same product

cisco: all records

Other highest-scoring records for the same primary product.

  • CVE-2026-20131Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center Software Remote Code Execution VulnerabilityKEV
    83Now
  • CVE-2026-20316Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center Software Static Credential VulnerabilityKEV
    62This week
  • CVE-2016-6433The Threat Management Console in Cisco Firepower Management Center 5.2.0 through 6.0.1 allows remote authenticated users to execute arbitrar
    59Plan

Published before and after this one in the same product

  • ← EarlierCVE-2026-20002Mar 4, 2026 · A vulnerability in the web-based management interface of Cisco Secure FMC Software could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to conduct
    32Monitor
  • ← EarlierCVE-2026-20003Mar 4, 2026 · A vulnerability in the REST API of Cisco Secure FMC Software could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to conduct SQL injection attacks
    19Monitor
  • ← EarlierCVE-2026-20044Mar 4, 2026 · Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center Command Injection Vulnerability
    24Monitor

Remediation

Which version to upgrade to

Fix versions compiled from the vendor, package registries and Microsoft. Verify the vendor's note before upgrading.

No fix version is recorded for this entry. Check the references for vendor advisories.

Exploit status

Weaponized

A ready exploit tool or active in-the-wild use is known for this vulnerability. This should be your top priority.

Evidence

  • Metasploit module ×1
  • Nuclei detection template ×1
  • Proof-of-concept repository on GitHub ×3

Noroxi does not host or link to exploit code. Metasploit module names and Nuclei template ids are shown (names, not code); Exploit-DB entries and PoC repositories are given as counts only.

Public exploit evidence
SourceKindDate
Metasploit moduleexploit/linux/http/cisco_fmc_auth_bypass_rceCisco Secure Firewall Management Center Authentication Bypass RCEexploit2026-03-04
Nuclei detection templateNuclei template CVE-2026-20079 —
Proof-of-concept repository on GitHubstars:02026-03-28
Proof-of-concept repository on GitHubstars:62026-08-17
Proof-of-concept repository on GitHubstars:02026-09-13

Research context

For pentesters and researchers: attack profile, score disagreement, timeline, patch commits, credits, variant and chain candidates, bug bounty scope. All derived from existing data; no exploit code.

Timeline

From publication to today: proof of concept, Metasploit module, CISA KEV and fix record. Dates are as reported by the sources.

  1. Metasploit-1 d
  2. Published
  3. First PoC+23 d
  4. CISA KEV+188 d
  5. TodayNov 1, 2026+242 d
EPSS, last 120 days

FIRST EPSS daily score; only changes of 0.01 or more are recorded (step chart).

Patch and commit links

Commit, PR and diff links among the references. A starting point for patch-diffing and variant hunting; fixes, not exploits.

No commit or PR link among the references.

Credits

All researchers

Finders, reporters and analysts named in the CNA record. Click a name for that researcher’s other records.

No credits in the CNA record.

Variant candidates

Same product, same weakness class, within 18 months. If the patch missed the root cause, the sibling bug is here.

—

Chain candidates

An authentication bypass and a privilege-requiring bug in the same product, published close together: combined they may become an unauthenticated path.

  • CVE-2026-200020 days apartA vulnerability in the web-based management interface of Cisco Secure FMC Software could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to conduct
    32Monitor
  • CVE-2026-200440 days apartCisco Secure Firewall Management Center Command Injection Vulnerability
    24Monitor
  • CVE-2026-200030 days apartA vulnerability in the REST API of Cisco Secure FMC Software could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to conduct SQL injection attacks
    19Monitor

Bug bounty scope

No known public program.

Source: bounty-targets-data (public HackerOne, Bugcrowd, Intigriti, YesWeHack listings).

Technical details

Attack conditions

  • Anyone who can reach it over the internet can trigger it.
  • No account or password is required.
  • No user action is required.
  • No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.

If successful

Confidentiality
high · data can be read
Integrity
high · data or configuration can be modified
Availability
high · the service can be disrupted

Impact can extend beyond the vulnerable component (scope changes).

Attack vector
Network
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality impact
High
Integrity impact
High
Availability impact
High

Weakness class (CWE)

CWE-288 · Authentication Bypass Using an Alternate Path or Channel

CVSS vector

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

nvd-secondary

Attack context

MITRE CAPEC attack patterns and ATT&CK techniques for this weakness class (CWE). A starting point for detection rules and threat hunting.

Change log

No changes recorded on tracked fields yet. Score, KEV, exploit maturity and fix status changes appear here.

References

Show all references (1 more)

Vendor advisories and official records. Exploit/PoC links are deliberately left out.

All records