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

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

- **Severity:** Critical 9.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 27 Sep 2023
- **Updated:** 16 Dec 2025
- **Also known as:** GHSA-rjvr-rwwj-qxq2

## 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 (Improper Authentication), CWE-862 (Missing Authorization)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-20252?

It affects 1 product.


Products: 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.

## Is CVE-2023-20252 being exploited?

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

## Other vulnerabilities in Cisco Catalyst Sd-Wan Manager

- [CVE-2026-20182](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-20182/): Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Controller Authentication Bypass (critical 10.0, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2026-20127](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-20127/): Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Controller and Manager Authentication Bypass (critical 10.0, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2026-76504](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-76504/): Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Manager Hex Encoding (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2026-20245](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-20245/): Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Manager Improper Encoding or Escaping of Output (high 7.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2022-20775](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-20775/): Cisco SD-WAN Path Traversal (high 7.8, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2023-20252 and fix it if it is affected.

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

Affected product: Cisco Catalyst Sd-Wan Manager. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-20252/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-20252/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-20252
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-20252
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-20252

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-20252/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.