CVE-2026-20122

A vulnerability in the API of Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Manager could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to overwrite arbitrary files on the local file system.

Medium Known exploited

Severity: 5.4 / 10; Medium · CVSS 3.1
Exploit chance (EPSS): 25.80%; Chance of exploitation in the next 30 days. Higher than 97.97% of scored vulnerabilities.
Known exploited: Yes; In CISA's catalog since Apr 20, 2026
Weakness: CWE-648 Incorrect Use of Privileged APIs
Fix: None yet; No fixed version published

Exploited in the wild. Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Manager Incorrect Use of Privileged APIs Vulnerability (Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Manger). Required action: Please adhere to CISA’s guidelines to assess exposure and mitigate risks associated with Cisco SD-WAN devices as outlines 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. Due for U.S. federal agencies by Apr 23, 2026.

Description

A vulnerability in the API of Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Manager could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to overwrite arbitrary files on the local file system. To exploit this vulnerability, the attacker must have valid read-only credentials with API access on the affected system.

This vulnerability is due to improper file handling on the API interface of an affected system. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by uploading a malicious file on the local file system. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to overwrite arbitrary files on the affected system and gain vmanage user privileges.

How to fix

No fixed version has been published yet. Until one is, remove or replace the package, or turn off or isolate the affected feature. This page updates when a fix ships.

Severity breakdown

CVSS 3.1 5.4

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N

Attack vector: Network
Attack complexity: Low
Privileges required: Low
User interaction: None
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: Low
Integrity: Low
Availability: None

Weakness

CWE-648: Incorrect Use of Privileged APIs

The product does not conform to the API requirements for a function call that requires extra privileges. This could allow attackers to gain privileges by causing the function to be called incorrectly.

How to prevent it

Implementation: Before calling privileged APIs, always ensure that the assumptions made by the privileged code hold true prior to making the call.
Architecture and Design: Know architecture and implementation weaknesses of the privileged APIs and make sure to account for these weaknesses before calling the privileged APIs to ensure that they can be called safely.
Implementation: If privileged APIs make certain assumptions about data, context or state validity that are passed by the caller, the calling code must ensure that these assumptions have been validated prior to making the call.
Implementation: If privileged APIs do not shed their privilege prior to returning to the calling code, then calling code needs to shed these privileges immediately and safely right after the call to the privileged APIs. In particular, the calling code needs to ensure that a privileged thread of execution will never be returned to the user or made available to user-controlled processes.
Implementation: Only call privileged APIs from safe, consistent and expected state.
Implementation: Ensure that a failure or an error will not leave a system in a state where privileges are not properly shed and privilege escalation is possible (i.e. fail securely with regards to handling of privileges).

References

Advisories

sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-sdwan-authbp-…

Timeline

Feb 25, 2026 Published
Apr 20, 2026 Added to CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog
Apr 23, 2026 Remediation due for U.S. federal agencies
Jun 17, 2026 Last updated by the source
Oct 31, 2026 Latest EPSS score

Advisory	Severity	Why it's related
CVE-2026-76460 A vulnerability in an API of Cisco Identity Services Engine (ISE) could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to bypass authentication.	Critical Known exploited	Same weakness, CWE-648
GHSA-gg9v-mgcp-v6m7 OpenClaw: Unbound bootstrap setup codes allow privilege escalation during pairing	Critical	Same weakness, CWE-648
GHSA-g5cg-8x5w-7jpm OpenClaw: Heartbeat context inheritance bypasses sandbox via senderIsOwner escalation	Critical	Same weakness, CWE-648
GHSA-h4jx-hjr3-fhgc OpenClaw: Gateway Plugin Subagent Fallback `deleteSession` Uses Synthetic `operator.admin`	High	Same weakness, CWE-648
GHSA-qm2m-28pf-hgjw OpenClaw: Gateway Plugin HTTP Auth Grants Unrestricted operator.admin Runtime Scope to All Callers	High	Same weakness, CWE-648
GHSA-fqw4-mph7-2vr8 OpenClaw: Silent privilege escalation via gateway shared-auth reconnect	High	Same weakness, CWE-648
GHSA-9hjh-fr4f-gxc4 OpenClaw: Gateway Backend Reconnect lets Non-Admin Operator Scopes Self-Claim operator.admin	High	Same weakness, CWE-648
GHSA-hf68-49fm-59cq OpenClaw Gateway: RCE and Privilege Escalation from operator.pairing to operator.admin via device.pair.approve	High	Same weakness, CWE-648

Is this in your code?

MergeHarbor checks every repository's dependencies against this database, ranks what matters by exploitability and reachability, routes it to the owning team and opens the fix pull request.

Check your repos with MergeHarbor