CVE-2026-20245
Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Manager Improper Encoding or Escaping of Output Vulnerability
Does this matter?
Known to be exploited in the wild (CISA KEV, CISA remediation deadline 23 June 2026). Treat as an emergency change: patch or isolate now, then hunt for prior compromise.
Description
A vulnerability in the CLI of 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 authenticated, local attacker to execute arbitrary commands as root by supplying a crafted file to the affected system. This vulnerability is due to insufficient validation of user-supplied input. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by uploading a crafted file to the affected system. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to perform command injection attacks on an affected system and elevate their privileges as the root user. To exploit this vulnerability, the attacker must have netadmin privileges on the affected system. This would require valid credentials or exploitation of or . Cisco is not aware of successful exploitation by other methods. Cisco has observed limited cases where the exploitation of this bug resulted in a configuration change pushed to edge devices. Cisco recommends that customers upgrade to the fixed software that is documented in the that was published on May 14, 2026, and verify the configuration of the edge devices.
- CVSS 3.1
- 7.8 HIGHCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
- EPSS
- 25.32% probability · 98th percentile
- CISA KEV
- Listed 9 June 2026 · due 23 June 2026
- Weakness
- CWE-116
- Affected
- cisco/catalyst sd-wan manager · cisco/sd-wan vsmart controller
- Source
- psirt@cisco.com
CISA notes
Apply mitigations per vendor instructions, follow applicable BOD 22-01 guidance for cloud services, or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable. https://sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-sdwan-privesc-4uxFrdzx ; https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-20245
References
- https://sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-sdwan-privesc-4uxFrdzxVendor Advisory
- https://sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-sdwan-rpa2-v69WY2SWVendor Advisory
- https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2026-20245US Government Resource
Source: NVD record, EPSS from FIRST.org, KEV from CISA. Refreshed daily.