CVE-2023-20252 Auth bypass in Cisco SD-WAN vManage

Critical 9.8 Published 27 Sep 2023 Updated 16 Dec 2025

Unauthenticated attackers can bypass SAML authentication to gain unauthorized access to Cisco SD-WAN Manager as an arbitrary user.

Exploited in the wild: Not known
Login needed: Not needed
Attackable: Over the internet
Victim action needed: Not needed
Fix: None listed

What is CVE-2023-20252?

CVE-2023-20252 is a critical authentication bypass vulnerability in Cisco Catalyst Sd-Wan Manager, published on 27 Sep 2023. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

Official description

A vulnerability in the Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML) APIs of Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Manager Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to gain unauthorized access to the application as an arbitrary user. This vulnerability is due to improper authentication checks for SAML APIs. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending requests directly to the SAML API. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to generate an authorization token sufficient to gain access to the application.

Weakness: CWE-287, CWE-862

Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-20252?

It affects 1 product.

Products include Cisco Catalyst Sd-Wan Manager.

How do I fix CVE-2023-20252?

No fix has been published for CVE-2023-20252 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

Upgrade, and rotate credentials and sessions that may have been exposed. More about Authentication bypass.

Is CVE-2023-20252 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-20252 in the wild and no public exploit code.

All Cisco Catalyst Sd-Wan Manager vulnerabilities

Sources

Also known as GHSA-rjvr-rwwj-qxq2.