CVE-2026-20182 Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Controller Authentication Bypass

Exploited in the wild Critical 10.0 Published 14 May 2026 Updated 16 Jun 2026

Unauthenticated remote attackers can bypass peering authentication to gain administrative privileges and manipulate SD-WAN network configurations.

Exploited in the wild: Since 14 May 2026
Login needed: Not needed
Attackable: Over the internet
Victim action needed: Not needed
Fix: None listed

What is CVE-2026-20182?

CVE-2026-20182 is a critical authentication bypass vulnerability in Cisco Catalyst Sd-Wan Manager, published on 14 May 2026. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

Official description

May 2026: This security advisory provides the details and fix information for a vulnerability that was discovered and fixed after the was disclosed in February 2026. This new advisory is for a new vulnerability in the control connection handshaking. The section of this advisory includes Show Control Connections guidance to help with system checks.  A vulnerability in the peering authentication in 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 unauthenticated, remote attacker to bypass authentication and obtain administrative privileges on an affected system. This vulnerability exists because the peering authentication mechanism in an affected system is not working properly. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending crafted requests to the affected system. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to log in to an affected Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Controller as an internal, high-privileged, non-root user account. Using this account, the attacker could access NETCONF, which would then allow the attacker to manipulate network configuration for the SD-WAN fabric.

Weakness: CWE-287

Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-20182?

It affects 3 products.

Products include Cisco Catalyst Sd-Wan Manager, Cisco Sd-Wan Vbond Orchestrator, Cisco Sd-Wan Vsmart Controller.

How do I fix CVE-2026-20182?

No fix has been published for CVE-2026-20182 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available. US federal agencies must fix it by 17 May 2026.

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

Is CVE-2026-20182 being exploited?

Yes. Attackers have exploited CVE-2026-20182 in the wild since at least 14 May 2026.

Public exploit code: 1 Metasploit module and 3 proofs of concept on GitHub.

All Cisco Catalyst Sd-Wan Manager vulnerabilities

Sources

Also known as GHSA-p83j-mxpw-gqpj.