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CVE-2026-20182· NVD / CVE Program· CNA cisco

Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Controller Authentication Bypass Vulnerability

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.

CriticalCVSS 10.0 · v3.1KEVWeaponized No fix recorded
Published
May 14, 2026
Updated
Jun 17, 2026
EPSS
91.5% · 100th percentile
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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 · 91.5%

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 May 14, 2026. That signals real attacks, not theory.

Remediation deadline for government agencies: May 17, 2026.

Affected systems

VendorProduct
ciscocatalyst sd-wan manager
ciscosd-wan vbond orchestrator
ciscosd-wan vsmart controller

Affected versions

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

  • cisco catalyst sd-wan managerbefore 20.9.9.1
  • cisco catalyst sd-wan manager20.10 and later · before 20.12.5.4
  • cisco catalyst sd-wan manager20.12.6 and later · before 20.12.6.2
  • cisco catalyst sd-wan manager20.13 and later · before 20.15.4.4
  • cisco catalyst sd-wan manager20.15.5 and later · before 20.15.5.2
  • cisco catalyst sd-wan manager20.16 and later · before 20.18.2.2
  • cisco catalyst sd-wan manager26.1 and later · before 26.1.1.1
  • cisco catalyst sd-wan manager20.12.7
  • cisco sd-wan vbond orchestratorbefore 20.9.9.1
  • cisco sd-wan vbond orchestrator20.10 and later · before 20.12.5.4
  • cisco sd-wan vbond orchestrator20.12.6 and later · before 20.12.6.2
  • cisco sd-wan vbond orchestrator20.13 and later · before 20.15.4.4
  • cisco sd-wan vbond orchestrator20.15.5 and later · before 20.15.5.2
  • cisco sd-wan vbond orchestrator20.16 and later · before 20.18.2.2
  • cisco sd-wan vbond orchestrator26.1 and later · before 26.1.1.1
  • cisco sd-wan vbond orchestrator20.12.7
  • cisco sd-wan vsmart controllerbefore 20.9.9.1
  • cisco sd-wan vsmart controller20.10 and later · before 20.12.5.4
  • cisco sd-wan vsmart controller20.12.6 and later · before 20.12.6.2
  • cisco sd-wan vsmart controller20.13 and later · before 20.15.4.4

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 Catalyst SD-WAN Controller

    • 20.6.4, 20.9.2, 20.3.6, 20.7.2, 20.7.1, 20.5.1, 20.6.2, 19.3.0, 20.6.1, 17.2.4, 18.2.0, 18.4.6 … (+28)affected

  • Cisco Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Manager

    • 20.1.12, 19.2.1, 18.4.4, 18.4.5, 20.1.1.1, 20.1.1, 19.2.099, 18.3.6, 18.3.7, 19.2.0, 19.1.0, 18.4.303 … (+22)affected

Same product

cisco: all records

Other highest-scoring records for the same primary product.

  • CVE-2026-20127Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Controller Authentication Bypass VulnerabilityKEV
    97Now
  • CVE-2026-20133A vulnerability in Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to view sensitive information on an affectKEV
    70This week
  • CVE-2026-20245Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Controller Authenticated Privilege Escalation VulnerabilityKEV
    69This week
  • CVE-2022-20775Cisco SD-WAN Software Privilege Escalation VulnerabilityKEV
    65This week
  • CVE-2026-20262Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Manager Arbitrary File Write VulnerabilityKEV
    64This week
  • CVE-2026-20128Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Manager Information Disclosure VulnerabilityKEV
    62This week

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 moduleauxiliary/admin/networking/cisco_sdwan_vhub_auth_bypassCisco Catalyst SD-WAN Controller vHub Authentication Bypassauxiliary2026-05-07
Nuclei detection templateNuclei template CVE-2026-20182 —
Proof-of-concept repository on GitHubstars:32026-05-22
Proof-of-concept repository on GitHubstars:02026-05-24
Proof-of-concept repository on GitHubstars:12026-05-26

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-8 d
  2. CISA KEV-1 d
  3. Published
  4. First PoC+7 d
  5. TodaySep 29, 2026+138 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.

  • CVE-2026-2012778 days apartCisco Catalyst SD-WAN Controller Authentication Bypass VulnerabilityKEV
    97Now
  • CVE-2026-2012978 days apartCisco Catayst SD-WAN Authentication Bypass Vulnerability
    39Monitor

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-2026-2024521 days apartCisco Catalyst SD-WAN Controller Authenticated Privilege Escalation VulnerabilityKEV
    69This week
  • CVE-2026-2026232 days apartCisco Catalyst SD-WAN Manager Arbitrary File Write VulnerabilityKEV
    64This week
  • CVE-2026-2010850 days apartA vulnerability in the web-based management interface of Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Manager could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to cond
    21Monitor

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-287 · Improper Authentication

CVSS vector

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

nvd-secondary

Root cause

Authentication is added route by route instead of being enforced in one place. When a route added later bypasses the shared middleware, the session check never runs for it.

The bug in code

The whole CWE-287 class

A representative example of this vulnerability class. Not the vendor's source code; it shows the faulty pattern and its fix.

Vulnerable

ts
app.use("/admin", requireSession, adminRouter);
// Route added later skips the middlewareapp.post("/admin-api/config", updateConfig);

Fixed

ts
const admin = express.Router();admin.use(requireSession, requireRole("admin"));
admin.post("/config", updateConfig);app.use("/admin", admin);

Attack context

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

Noroxi analysis

No Noroxi analysis for this record yet

We don't hand-write analysis for all 385,000+ vulnerabilities; that wouldn't be honest. For notable, high-impact vulnerabilities our team writes the mechanism, detection and remediation steps.

We use this product, ask for help

Change log

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

References

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

All records