BlackTreeIndependent security intelligence
← Back to the CVE catalogue
Full vulnerability report · 2026
CVE-2026-20128High confidence

Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Manager Storing Passwords in a Recoverable Format Vulnerability

Cisco · Catalyst SD-WAN Manager

7.5HighCVSS 3.1
Recommended action
Protect now

CISA confirms exploitation in the wild and lists 2026-04-23 as the remediation due date.

Fix not verified
Optional official sources

National CERT insights
?CERT means Computer Emergency Response Team; CSIRT is the closely related term Computer Security Incident Response Team.

Select the national-authority views to include. The exact source language is shown on each matched advisory. Your choice is remembered on this device and encoded in the shareable URL.

Official European source

ENISA European Vulnerability Database

Official EUVD identifiers, advisory evidence and known-exploited context. Missing fields are not treated as evidence of low risk.

1 current
ENISA EUVD identifier

EUVD-2026-8676

CISA KEV mirrored by ENISA

A vulnerability in the Data Collection Agent (DCA) feature of Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Manager could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to gain DCA user privileges on an affected system. This vulnerability is due to the presence of a credential file for the DCA user on an affected system. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a crafted HTTP request and reading the file that contains the DCA password from that affected system. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to access another affected system and gain DCA user privileges. Note: Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Manager releases 20.18 and later are not affected by this vulnerability.

EUVD state
Present in the current official mapping
Known exploitation
Recorded by ENISA since 20 Apr 2026. Evidence sources: cisa_kev.
ENISA score
7.5 · CVSS 3.1
Advisory evidence
3 linked advisory records
Explicit mitigation evidence

Only statements that explicitly mention a fix, patch, update, workaround or mitigation are shown here.

  • csaf_ncscnl · NCSC-2026-0071Kwetsbaarheden verholpen in Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Manager
Recommended actionProtect now

CISA confirms exploitation in the wild and lists 2026-04-23 as the remediation due date.

Fix not verified
01

What, why and how

Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Manager contains a storing passwords in a recoverable format vulnerability that allows an authenticated, local attacker to gain DCA user privileges by accessing a credential file for the DCA user on the filesystem as a low-privileged user.

What

Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Manager contains a storing passwords in a recoverable format vulnerability that allows an authenticated, local attacker to gain DCA user privileges by accessing a credential file for the DCA user on the filesystem as a low-privileged user.

Why

The storage of passwords in a recoverable format makes them subject to password reuse attacks by malicious users. In fact, it should be noted that recoverable encrypted passwords provide no significant benefit over plaintext passwords since they are subject not only to reuse by malicious attackers but also by malicious insiders. If a system administrator can recover a password directly, or use a brute force search on the available information, the administrator can use the password on other accounts.

How

An attacker operating through local access may attempt exploitation with elevated privileges. If successful, the issue may cause the confidentiality, integrity or availability impact described by the vendor.

What

Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Manager contains a storing passwords in a recoverable format vulnerability that allows an authenticated, local attacker to gain DCA user privileges by accessing a credential file for the DCA user on the filesystem as a low-privileged user.

Why

The storage of passwords in a recoverable format makes them subject to password reuse attacks by malicious users. In fact, it should be noted that recoverable encrypted passwords provide no significant benefit over plaintext passwords since they are subject not only to reuse by malicious attackers but also by malicious insiders. If a system administrator can recover a password directly, or use a brute force search on the available information, the administrator can use the password on other accounts.

How

An attacker operating through local access may attempt exploitation with elevated privileges. If successful, the issue may cause the confidentiality, integrity or availability impact described by the vendor.

02

Exploit reality and attack path

CVSS severity, EPSS forecast probability, public exploit material and CISA-confirmed exploitation are separate signals.

Observed exploitation
?Confirmed exploitation and public exploit material are separate signals. Attacks can occur without public proof-of-concept or exploit code.
Confirmed in the wild

CISA added this CVE to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalogue on 2026-04-20.

Public PoC / exploit material
?Confirmed exploitation and public exploit material are separate signals. Attacks can occur without public proof-of-concept or exploit code.
None recorded

No exploit-tagged reference or CISA SSVC proof-of-concept state is currently recorded. Research may still exist outside the structured feeds.

Likely attack path
local access → Storing Passwords in a Recoverable Format → cause the confidentiality, integrity or availability impact described by the vendor
Attack surface
Local
Privileges required
High: elevated access is required
User interaction
None
Attack complexity
High: exploitation depends on specific conditions
Security boundary
Changed: exploitation can affect a different security authority
Weakness
?CWE means Common Weakness Enumeration: a standard category for the underlying weakness.
CWE-257 ↗

CWE-257: Storing Passwords in a Recoverable Format. The storage of passwords in a recoverable format makes them subject to password reuse attacks by malicious users. In fact, it should be noted that recoverable encrypted passwords provide no significant benefit over plaintext passwords since they are subject not only to reuse by malicious attackers but also by malicious insiders. If a system administrator can recover a password directly, or use a brute force search on the available information, the administrator can use the password on other accounts.

CVSS vector
?CVSS means Common Vulnerability Scoring System. The vector records the metric values used to calculate technical severity.
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H

Common Vulnerability Scoring System 3.1: the compact vector below is decoded into plain language.

AVLocalAttack vector: The attacker needs local access to the vulnerable system.ACHighAttack complexity: Successful exploitation depends on specific conditions outside the attacker's direct control.PRHighPrivileges required: The attacker needs elevated or administrative privileges.UINoneUser interaction: No action by another user is required.SChangedScope: The attack can affect a component governed by a different security authority.CHighConfidentiality impact: A successful attack can cause a major loss.IHighIntegrity impact: A successful attack can cause a major loss.AHighAvailability impact: A successful attack can cause a major loss.
Post-exploitation / living off the land
Stolen credentials, tokens and legitimate administration functions may provide continued access without deploying a large custom toolset.
CWE-257CISA KEV
A

Official authority intelligence

Only matched European and national findings are included. Language selectors and unavailable sources are omitted.

ENISA EUVD · EUVD-2026-8676Known-exploited evidence recorded

A vulnerability in the Data Collection Agent (DCA) feature of Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Manager could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to gain DCA user privileges on an affected system. This vulnerability is due to the presence of a credential file for the DCA user on an affected system. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a crafted HTTP request and reading the file that contains the DCA password from that affected system. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to access another affected system and gain DCA user privileges. Note: Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Manager releases 20.18 and later are not affected by this vulnerability.

Official EUVD record
BSI · German · WID-SEC-W-2026-0516Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Manager und SD-WAN Controller: Mehrere Schwachstellen

Ein entfernter, anonymer oder lokaler Angreifer kann mehrere Schwachstellen in Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Manager ausnutzen, um Administratorrechte zu erlangen, die Authentifizierung zu umgehen, Befehle mit Netadmin-Rechten auszuführen, sensible Systeminformationen zu lesen und beliebige Dateien auf dem System zu überschreiben.

Official advisory
CERT-FR · French · CERTFR-2026-AVI-0210Multiples vulnérabilités dans Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN

De multiples vulnérabilités ont été découvertes dans Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN. Certaines d'entre elles permettent à un attaquant de provoquer une exécution de code arbitraire à distance, une élévation de privilèges et une atteinte à la confidentialité des données. Cisco indique que la vulnérabilité CVE-2026-20127 est activement exploitée.

Official advisory
NCSC-NL · Dutch · NCSC-2026-0071Kwetsbaarheden verholpen in Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Manager

Multiple vulnerabilities in Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Manager, including a local privilege escalation via credential file access in versions prior to 20.18, allow authenticated users to gain elevated privileges and access sensitive data.

Official advisory
03

Patch and workaround

Operational remediation based on structured source evidence.

Status
?Patch availability is based on structured fixed-version fields and authoritative update references. If no fix is verified, check the vendor advisory before making a change.
Fix not verified
Affected
20.1.12; 19.2.1; 18.4.4; 18.4.5; 20.1.1.1; 20.1.1; 19.3.0; 19.2.2
Fixed
No fixed version is explicitly recorded in the structured CVE data.
Action
No verified patch reference is present in the current structured sources. Check the vendor advisory before making a change.
Workaround
No verified workaround is recorded. Limit untrusted access and use least privilege until authoritative guidance is available.
04

Evidence and provenance

Published 25 Feb 2026 · Last source change 21 Apr 2026, 03:55 UTC · CWE-257 · Storing Passwords in a Recoverable Format

CVE recordCVE.org · 5.2
CVSS sourceCNA
EPSS source
?The date BlackTree first stored a score for this CVE from the daily FIRST EPSS feed.
FIRST · tracked since 2026-08-14
European sourceENISA EUVD · EUVD-2026-8676
Product sourceCNA
Remediation sourceCVE/CNA references
CWE sourceCNA
NVD statusNVD enriched

Core structured fields are present and their contributing authorities are shown above.

Material change intelligence

What changed after publication

View recent updates →
  1. BlackTree coverageBlackTree article coverage changed from no BlackTree article to 1 BlackTree article.
    Before
    no BlackTree article
    After
    1 BlackTree article
    BlackTree editorial ↗
Material fields only · duplicate refreshes suppressed · history retained for the configured operational retention period
CVE published
Added to CISA KEV
ENISA EUVD · EUVD-2026-8676↗CISA KEV record↗CVE authority or vendor reference↗Official CVE record (CNA and ADP data)↗NVD record↗
Technical terms and abbreviations used in this report
CVE
Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures: the public identifier for one disclosed vulnerability.
CVSS
Common Vulnerability Scoring System: a technical severity framework; it is not patching priority by itself.
EPSS
Exploit Prediction Scoring System: FIRST's estimate of the probability that exploitation activity will be observed in the next 30 days; it is a forecast, not confirmation.
CWE
Common Weakness Enumeration: the standard category describing the underlying software or hardware weakness.
CNA
CVE Numbering Authority: an organisation authorised to assign and publish CVE records.
CISA ADP
Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Authorized Data Publisher: structured enrichment added to a CVE record.
NVD
National Vulnerability Database: NIST's enrichment service for CVE records.
CERT / CSIRT
A computer security incident response team that publishes warnings or coordinates incident response.
PoC
Proof of concept: public material that demonstrates or helps reproduce exploitation.
CSAF
Common Security Advisory Framework: a machine-readable format for security advisories.
LoTL
Living off the land: abuse of legitimate tools or system functions during an attack.
Free version - for non-commercial use only.CVE-2026-20128 · cve.blacktree.nl