Actively exploited · Published May 14, 2026 · Assigned by cisco
CVE-2026-20182Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Controller Authentication Bypass Vulnerability
Critical 10.0 Exploited
In plain English
A critical-severity improper authentication in Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Controller from Cisco. Attackers are actively exploiting it in the wild (listed by CISA on May 14, 2026). The chance it is exploited in the next 30 days is estimated at 91.8% (higher than 99.8% of all known vulnerabilities). Ready-made attack tooling exists: Metasploit, public proof-of-concept code. 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.
CISA guidance
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.
Federal agencies must remediate by May 17, 2026.
Official description
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.
Affected products (as reported)
| Vendor | Product | Versions |
|---|---|---|
| Cisco | Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Controller | 20.6.420.9.220.3.620.7.220.7.120.5.120.6.219.3.0 |
| Cisco | Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Manager | 20.1.1219.2.118.4.418.4.520.1.1.120.1.119.2.09918.3.6 |
Weakness: CWE-287 · Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
References
- cisco-sa-sdwan-rpa2-v69WY2SW
- Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Controller Authentication Bypass Vulnerability</a> was disclosed in February 2026. This new advisory is for a new vulnerability in the control connection handshaking. The <a href="#IOC">Indicators of Compromise
- https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2026-20182 government-resource