CVE-2026-18556
N-able N-central Authentication Bypass Using an Alternate Path or Channel Vulnerability
Does this matter?
Known to be exploited in the wild (CISA KEV, CISA remediation deadline 7 August 2026). Treat as an emergency change: patch or isolate now, then hunt for prior compromise.
Description
Authentication bypass using an alternate path or channel vulnerability in N-able N-central allows Authentication Bypass. This issue affects N-central: through 2026.1.
- CVSS 4.0
- 8.2 HIGHCVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:H/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:N/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/M
- EPSS
- 7.88% probability · 95th percentile
- Public exploits
- None in Exploit-DB
- CISA KEV
- Listed 4 August 2026 · due 7 August 2026
- Weakness
- CWE-288
- Affected
- n-able/n-central
- Source
- a5532a13-c4dd-4202-bef1-e0b8f2f8d12b
EPSS moved from 7.9% on 24 September 2026 to 7.9% on 30 October 2026. The dashed line is the ten per cent mark our analysts treat as “patch before the next change window”.
CISA notes
Apply mitigations in accordance with vendor instructions, ensuring compliance with CISA’s BOD 26-04 Prioritizing Security Updates Based on Risk (see URL in Notes) guidance and CISA’s “Forensics Triage Requirements” (see URL in Notes). Follow applicable BOD 26-04 guidance for cloud services or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable. Stakeholders are responsible for evaluating each asset's internet exposure and ensuring adherence to BOD 26-04 patching guidelines. https://uptime.n-able.com/ ; https://status.n-able.com/2026/08/02/n-central-2026-3-hotfix-1-mitigation-for-cve-2026-18577/ ; BOD 26-04: https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/directives/bod-26-04-prioritizing-security-updates-based-risk ; Forensics Triage Requirements: https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/directives/bod-26-04-implementation-guidance-prioritizing-security-updates-based-risk ; https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-18556
References
- https://uptime.n-able.com/Vendor Advisory
- https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2026-18556US Government Resource
- https://www.n-able.com/blog/n-central-security-update-august-2-2026Vendor Advisory
Source: NVD record, EPSS from FIRST.org, KEV from CISA, exploits from Exploit-DB. Refreshed daily. Download this record as JSON.