Exploited

CVE-2026-20128

Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN · Switches, routers and SD-WAN

Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Manager Storing Passwords in a Recoverable Format Vulnerability

At a glance

Exploited. Added to CISA’s catalog of exploited vulnerabilities on April 20, 2026.

Affected product: Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN (category Switches, routers and SD-WAN, indicative classification). Name in CISA’s catalog: Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Manager.

What should I do?

CISA has issued specific instructions for this vulnerability: read the original text and the NVD entry.

Deadline set by CISA for US federal agencies: 3 days (due April 23, 2026). It only binds those agencies, but it is a useful measure of urgency.

Cisco security advisories page (general page, not the advisory for this vulnerability)
The vendor’s specific advisory is listed in the NVD references: CVE-2026-20128 on the NVD website.

Original text of the required action (CISA)

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.

Timeline

February 25, 2026 Vulnerability published Publication date (NVD)
April 20, 2026 Exploitation confirmed Added to CISA’s KEV catalog
April 23, 2026 CISA deadline Remediation deadline set for US federal agencies

The facts, with their sources

Exploitation confirmed: Yes, on April 20, 2026 Date added to the catalog of exploited vulnerabilities. Exploitation itself may have started earlier. Source: KEV catalog, collected September 29, 2026 at 14:57 UTC
Ransomware: No known use to date That does not guarantee it is not being used: the information is not public. Source: KEV catalog, collected September 29, 2026 at 14:57 UTC
Hunt for compromise: Not requested by CISA Source: KEV catalog, collected September 29, 2026 at 14:57 UTC
CISA required action: CISA has issued specific instructions for this vulnerability: read the original text and the NVD entry. Rewritten by this site from CISA’s original text. Source: KEV catalog, collected September 29, 2026 at 14:57 UTC
CISA deadline: April 23, 2026, 3 days Set for US federal agencies: a measure of urgency, not an obligation elsewhere. Source: KEV catalog, collected September 29, 2026 at 14:57 UTC
Vulnerability published: February 25, 2026 Source: National Vulnerability Database (NVD), collected September 29, 2026 at 15:00 UTC
Product according to CISA: Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Manager Filed by this site under “Switches, routers and SD-WAN” (indicative classification). Source: KEV catalog, collected September 29, 2026 at 14:57 UTC
CVSS vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H Technical detail of the score: attack vector, complexity, impact. Source: National Vulnerability Database (NVD), collected September 29, 2026 at 15:00 UTC

Severity and activity

7.5 / 10 CVSS severity: high

Score from the vendor or CISA, relayed by the NVD. Collected Sep 29, 2026.

— Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days (EPSS)

FIRST’s EPSS model. Since exploitation is already confirmed, this figure is mostly useful to compare activity. Collected Sep 29, 2026.

Description

A vulnerability in the Data Collection Agent (DCA) feature of Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Manager could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to gain DCA user privileges on an affected system. This vulnerability is due to the presence of a credential file for the DCA user on an affected system. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a crafted HTTP request and reading the file that contains the DCA password from that affected system. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to access another affected system and gain DCA user privileges. Note: Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Manager releases 20.18 and later are not affected by this vulnerability.

Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Manager contains a storing passwords in a recoverable format vulnerability that allows an authenticated, local attacker to gain DCA user privileges by accessing a credential file for the DCA user on the filesystem as a low-privileged user.

Summary from CISA (KEV catalog).

CERT-FR advisories

No advisory among the latest CERT-FR publications this site follows. That does not mean there are none.

Information reused under the Open Licence 2.0 (Etalab); the date of last update is shown for each advisory. This site is neither affiliated with nor endorsed by ANSSI.

Sources for this page

CISA KEV catalog: exploitation, date added, required action, deadline, ransomware.
NVD (NIST): CVSS severity, publication date, description, vendor references.
EPSS (FIRST): probability of exploitation.
CERT-FR: advisories and alerts (in French).
Brand and category: indicative classification by this site (method).