CVE-2026-20182: in the CISA KEV catalogue
Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Controller Authentication Bypass Vulnerability. CISA added CVE-2026-20182 to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalogue on 2026-05-14 with a default due date of 2026-05-17. Known ransomware campaign use: Unknown. Forensic triage flag: No.
Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Controller & Manager contain an authentication bypass vulnerability that allows an unauthenticated, remote attacker to bypass authentication and obtain administrative privileges on an affected system. (CISA description)
- Vendor / product
- Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN
- CWE
- CWE-287
- CISA required action
- Please adhere to CISA’s guidelines to assess exposure and mitigate risks associated with Cisco SD-WAN devices as outlined in CISA’s Emergency Directive 26-03 (URL listed below in Notes) and CISA’s Hunt & Hardening Guidance for Cisco SD-WAN Devices (URL listed below in Notes). Adhere to the applicable BOD 22-01 guidance for cloud services or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are not available.
- EPSS
- 92%, percentile 99 (scored 2026-11-03)
EPSS puts about 92 in 100 odds (92%) on exploitation activity being observed in the next 30 days. Its score is higher than or equal to that of 99% of scored CVEs. This is a model estimate about exploitation anywhere, not about your environment.
Vendor and reference links (from CISA)
- https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/directives/ed-26-03-mitigate-vulnerabilities-cisco-sd-wan-systems
- https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/directives/supplemental-direction-ed-26-03-hunt-and-hardening-guidance-cisco-sd-wan-systems
- https://sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-sdwan-rpa2-v69WY2SW
- https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-20182
Your own deadline under CISA BOD 26-04 depends on exposure, automatability and technical impact: work it out with the BOD 26-04 calculator.
Frequently asked questions
Is CVE-2026-20182 in the CISA KEV catalogue?
Yes. CISA added CVE-2026-20182 (Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Controller Authentication Bypass Vulnerability) to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalogue on 2026-05-14. CISA's default due date for it is 2026-05-17.
Is CVE-2026-20182 used in ransomware attacks?
CISA marks known ransomware campaign use as Unknown for CVE-2026-20182. That means CISA lacks confirmation, not that ransomware groups do not use it.
What should I do about CVE-2026-20182?
CISA's required action: Please adhere to CISA’s guidelines to assess exposure and mitigate risks associated with Cisco SD-WAN devices as outlined in CISA’s Emergency Directive 26-03 (URL listed below in Notes) and CISA’s Hunt & Hardening Guidance for Cisco SD-WAN Devices (URL listed below in Notes). Adhere to the applicable BOD 22-01 guidance for cloud services or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are not available.
Sources
- CISA, Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog (accessed 2026-11-03)
- FIRST, Exploit Prediction Scoring System (EPSS) (EPSS by FIRST; scores generated by Empirical Security)
- NVD record for CVE-2026-20182