Actively exploited in the wild
Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Manager Improper Encoding or Escaping of Output Vulnerability
Cisco - Catalyst SD-WAN Manager · Listed in the CISA KEV since 2026-06-09. This indicates confirmed attacks in production environments.
Required action: Apply mitigations per vendor instructions, follow applicable BOD 22-01 guidance for cloud services, or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.
CVE-2026-20245
HighCVSS 7.8KEVExploitation Probability (EPSS)
Very high risk98th percentile - higher than 98% of all known CVEs
Summary
A vulnerability in the CLI of Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN devices (Controller, Manager, Validator) allows an authenticated local attacker with netadmin privileges to execute arbitrary commands as root by uploading a crafted file. The issue is due to insufficient input validation. Cisco has observed limited exploitation resulting in configuration changes on edge devices.
Risk Assessment
An attacker with netadmin privileges can gain full control over the SD-WAN device and potentially alter edge device configurations, disrupting network operations.
Recommendation
Upgrade to the fixed software version specified in the Cisco advisory dated May 14, 2026, and verify edge device configurations.
Original NVD description (English source)
A vulnerability in the CLI of 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 authenticated, local attacker to execute arbitrary commands as root by supplying a crafted file to the affected system. This vulnerability is due to insufficient validation of user-supplied input. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by uploading a crafted file to the affected system. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to perform command injection attacks on an affected system and elevate their privileges as the root user. To exploit this vulnerability, the attacker must have netadmin privileges on the affected system. This would require valid credentials or exploitation of or . Cisco is not aware of successful exploitation by other methods. Cisco has observed limited cases where the exploitation of this bug resulted in a configuration change pushed to edge devices. Cisco recommends that customers upgrade to the fixed software that is documented in the that was published on May 14, 2026, and verify the configuration of the edge devices.