# CVE-2026-20182: Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Controller Authentication Bypass Vulnerability

> CVE-2026-20182: Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Controller Authentication Bypass Vulnerability. CVSS 10.0 (CVSS 3.1), in CISA KEV.

Canonical: https://rewindex.com/cve/CVE-2026-20182
Last updated: 2026-06-17T15:06:02Z

- Published: 2026-05-14 16:08 UTC · Updated: 2026-06-17 15:06 UTC · Assigner: cisco
- CVSS: 10.0 (CVSS 3.1) · Severity: Critical · Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
- EPSS: 91.8%, 100th percentile (scored 2026-10-25)
- CISA KEV: yes, added 2026-05-14, federal due date 2026-05-17, ransomware use: Unknown
- CWE: CWE-287

## 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.

## CISA required action

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.

## Affected vendors and products

- Cisco: Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Controller
- Cisco: Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Manager

## References

- [CVE record on cve.org](https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-20182)
- [NVD entry](https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-20182)
- [https://sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-sdwan-rpa2-v69WY2SW](https://sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-sdwan-rpa2-v69WY2SW)
- [https://sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-sdwan-rpa-EHchtZk](https://sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-sdwan-rpa-EHchtZk)

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_Sources: CVE records from the CVE Program (cve.org). CVE® is a registered trademark of The MITRE Corporation. (https://www.cve.org/) This product uses data from the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. (https://nvd.nist.gov/) Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog from CISA. (https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog) EPSS scores from FIRST (Exploit Prediction Scoring System). (https://www.first.org/epss/)_


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Canonical: https://rewindex.com/cve/CVE-2026-20182 · Markdown: https://rewindex.com/cve/CVE-2026-20182.md · JSON: https://rewindex.com/api/v1/cves/CVE-2026-20182 · Data licensed CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) · Generated 2026-10-26T02:13:04.988Z