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ExploitedIn CISA KEVFix available

CVE-2026-20127

Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Controller Authentication Bypass Vulnerability

Exploitation confirmed. First attested on 2026-02-25 by CISA-ADP, CISA KEV, GCVE · kevintel.

  • Published2026-02-25
  • Fixed in20.18.2.1 · 20.15.4.2 · 20.12.5.3 · 20.9.8.2
  • WeaknessCWE-287

Am I affected?

With a domain, we read the version its public headers and pages expose. A distribution build can carry the fix under an older number.

Description

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 an 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. 

Timeline

dates in UTC
  1. 2026-02-25Added to the CISA KEV catalogCISA KEV
  2. 2026-02-25Listed as exploited by GCVEGCVE
  3. 2026-02-25Exploitation first reportedCISA KEV
  4. 2026-02-2517:25CVE publishedNVD
  5. 2026-02-2604:55SSVC exploitation set to activeCISA-ADP

Versions per branch

NVD
Cisco catalyst sd-wan manager
BranchAffectedFixed in
20.x≥ 20.16, < 20.18.2.120.18.2.1
20.x≥ 20.13, < 20.15.4.220.15.4.2
20.x≥ 20.11, < 20.12.5.320.12.5.3
20.9< 20.9.8.220.9.8.2
20.12= 20.12.6no fix published
Cisco sd-wan vbond orchestrator
BranchAffectedFixed in
20.x≥ 20.16, < 20.18.2.120.18.2.1
20.x≥ 20.13, < 20.15.4.220.15.4.2
20.x≥ 20.11, < 20.12.5.320.12.5.3
20.9< 20.9.8.220.9.8.2
20.12= 20.12.6no fix published
Cisco sd-wan vsmart controller
BranchAffectedFixed in
20.x≥ 20.16, < 20.18.2.120.18.2.1
20.x≥ 20.13, < 20.15.4.220.15.4.2
20.x≥ 20.11, < 20.12.5.320.12.5.3
20.9< 20.9.8.220.9.8.2
20.12= 20.12.6no fix published

as publishedRanges as NVD and OSV publish them; a distribution’s build can be fixed under an older number.

Products declared by the CNA1 product

As cisco, the CNA that assigned this CVE, declared them in the CVE record; versions as written.

  • Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Managerother versions: unknown
    Affected
    • = 20.1.12no fix stated
    • = 19.2.1no fix stated
    • = 18.4.4no fix stated
    • = 18.4.5no fix stated
    • = 20.1.1.1no fix stated
    • = 20.1.1no fix stated
    • = 19.3.0no fix stated
    • = 19.2.2no fix stated

    327 more version lines in the CVE record.

Source: the CNA record (CVE Program), © The MITRE Corporation,CVE Terms of UseCVE recordupdated 2026-06-16

Fix

  1. Update Cisco catalyst sd-wan manager to 20.18.2.1 · 20.15.4.2 · 20.12.5.3 · 20.9.8.2
  2. CISA’s required action: 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.due 2026-02-27

Advisories and patches

Detection

read 2026-11-01 01:02 UTC
Nuclei template
none so far
ProjectDiscovery
Exploit-DB
no entry
Exploit-DB
Proof of concept
Metasploit modules
1 moduleauxiliary/admin/networking/cisco_sdwan_auth_bypassrank: normalModule metadata: Metasploit Framework, © Rapid7, Inc., BSD-3-Clause.
Metasploit Framework

CISA Known Exploited Vulnerability

Date Added
2026-02-25
Patch Due Date
2026-02-27
Ransomware Use
Unknown
Required Action
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.

Sources

Identifiers

Technical details

CVSS v3 Vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
Published
2026-02-25
Last Modified
2026-06-17
NVD status
Analyzed
CERT-FR Advisory
CERTFR-2026-ALE-002
GitHub Advisory
GHSA-p4cq-46q3-jr7w
CERT-FR Link
CERTFR-2026-ALE-002

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2026-20127?

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 an 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&nbsp;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.&nbsp;

Is CVE-2026-20127 actively exploited?

Yes. CVE-2026-20127 is on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog, meaning it has been confirmed as actively exploited in the wild. CISA requires federal agencies to patch by 2026-02-27.

What is the CVSS score for CVE-2026-20127?

CVE-2026-20127 has a CVSS v3 base score of 10 (CRITICAL severity), with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H.

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