# CVE-2026-20174: Cisco Nexus Dashboard Insights Arbitrary File Write Vulnerability

> Authenticated attackers can write arbitrary files as root via insufficient validation in the metadata update feature of Cisco Nexus Dashboard Insights.

- **Severity:** Medium 4.9 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** An administrator
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 1 Apr 2026
- **Updated:** 1 Apr 2026
- **Also known as:** GHSA-2cwq-r4f6-rjgw

## What is CVE-2026-20174?

CVE-2026-20174 is a medium-severity path traversal vulnerability in Cisco Nexus Dashboard, published on 1 Apr 2026. An attacker needs administrator access to exploit it, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

A vulnerability in the Metadata update feature of Cisco Nexus Dashboard Insights could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to write arbitrary files to an affected system.

This vulnerability is due to insufficient validation of the metadata update file. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by crafting a metadata update file and manually uploading it to an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to write arbitrary files to the underlying operating system as the root user. To exploit this vulnerability, the attacker must have valid administrative credentials.
Note: Manual uploading of metadata files is typical for Air-Gap environments but not for Cisco Intersight Cloud connected devices. However, the manual upload option exists for both deployments.

Weakness: CWE-22 (Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-20174?

It affects 2 products.


Products: Cisco Nexus Dashboard, Cisco Nexus Dashboard Insights.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-20174?

No fix has been published for CVE-2026-20174 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2026-20174 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-20174 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Cisco Nexus Dashboard

- [CVE-2022-20857](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-20857/): Cisco Nexus Dashboard Unauthorized Access Vulnerabilities (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2022-20858](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-20858/): Cisco Nexus Dashboard Unauthorized Access Vulnerabilities (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2022-20861](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-20861/): Cisco Nexus Dashboard Unauthorized Access Vulnerabilities (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2025-20163](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-20163/): Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller SSH Host Key Vulnerability (high 8.7)
- [CVE-2024-20281](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-20281/): Cross-site request forgery in Cisco Data Center Network Manager (high 7.5)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-20174 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-20174 is a medium-severity path traversal vulnerability in Cisco Nexus Dashboard, published on 1 Apr 2026. An attacker needs administrator access to exploit it, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-20174 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Cisco Nexus Dashboard. 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-2026-20174/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-20174/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-20174
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-20174
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-20174

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-20174/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.