CVE-2026-20182
Status: AnalyzedCritical (10)⚠ Active exploitation
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.
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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.
Technical details traces, logs and code from the original report
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.
CVSS
- Version: 3.1
- Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
- Base score: 10
Exploitation probability (EPSS)
- Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days: 92%
- Percentile among all scored CVEs: 100
- Score date: 9/29/2026
EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System, FIRST) estimates how likely a vulnerability is to be exploited in the wild within 30 days. It complements CVSS (impact) and CISA KEV (confirmed exploitation).
CISA KEV — actively exploited
- Added to catalog: 5/14/2026
- Remediation due date: 5/17/2026
- Known ransomware use: Unknown
Affected technologies (3)
CWEs
- CWE-287
References
Raw JSON (NVD)
Show
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"published": "2026-05-14T17:16:19.387",
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"descriptions": [
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"value": "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. \r\n\r\nA 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.\r\nThis 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."
}
],
"lastModified": "2026-06-17T15:06:02.767",
"cisaActionDue": "2026-05-17",
"cisaExploitAdd": "2026-05-14",
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"vulnerable": true,
"matchCriteriaId": "86D90EAF-0EB3-4412-8D15-14F5151E36FA",
"versionEndExcluding": "20.12.5.4",
"versionStartIncluding": "20.10"
},
{
"criteria": "cpe:2.3:a:cisco:sd-wan_vsmart_controller:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
"vulnerable": true,
"matchCriteriaId": "CAA36394-30A2-4668-AF03-1C596D8AC2E0",
"versionEndExcluding": "20.12.6.2",
"versionStartIncluding": "20.12.6"
},
{
"criteria": "cpe:2.3:a:cisco:sd-wan_vsmart_controller:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
"vulnerable": true,
"matchCriteriaId": "EEC9B48C-3149-4662-9DD4-DC4ACE4460E3",
"versionEndExcluding": "20.15.4.4",
"versionStartIncluding": "20.13"
},
{
"criteria": "cpe:2.3:a:cisco:sd-wan_vsmart_controller:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
"vulnerable": true,
"matchCriteriaId": "9E964DF6-E2FB-4305-9AD6-42904FC4FE9A",
"versionEndExcluding": "20.15.5.2",
"versionStartIncluding": "20.15.5"
},
{
"criteria": "cpe:2.3:a:cisco:sd-wan_vsmart_controller:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
"vulnerable": true,
"matchCriteriaId": "4D40D018-E4EB-4CC8-A2B0-F8E1DA2E3350",
"versionEndExcluding": "20.18.2.2",
"versionStartIncluding": "20.16"
},
{
"criteria": "cpe:2.3:a:cisco:sd-wan_vsmart_controller:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
"vulnerable": true,
"matchCriteriaId": "788140A2-0378-487E-9C9A-84080C9BC7A5",
"versionEndExcluding": "26.1.1.1",
"versionStartIncluding": "26.1"
},
{
"criteria": "cpe:2.3:a:cisco:sd-wan_vsmart_controller:20.12.7:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
"vulnerable": true,
"matchCriteriaId": "0F4FFF4B-5C26-4014-A9B2-EE342F3FE3C8"
}
],
"operator": "OR"
}
]
}
],
"sourceIdentifier": "psirt@cisco.com",
"cisaRequiredAction": "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.",
"cisaVulnerabilityName": "Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Controller Authentication Bypass Vulnerability"
}