CVE-2026-20128Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Manager Storing Passwords in a Recoverable Format Vulnerability
CVE-2026-20128 is a vulnerability in Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Manager, rated high (7.5 on CVSS 3.1).
Why this priority: Exploited in the wild: listed in CISA's KEV catalog.
Published · Updated · NVD status: Analyzed
What it is
The record does not classify the weakness yet; the description below says what the reporter found.
How it is reached
An attacker can exploit it by someone who can already run code or sign in on the machine, with an administrator account, and nobody has to click anything. Success also depends on conditions the attacker does not fully control.
What an attacker gains
A successful attack can read the data it protects, change data or behaviour and take it offline. The damage can spread past the vulnerable component into others.
Is it being exploited?
CISA added it to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on 2026-04-20: it is being exploited in the wild. EPSS estimates a 8.3% chance of exploitation activity in the next 30 days, higher than 95% of scored CVEs.
What to do
- Treat it as urgent: it is on CISA's KEV list. CISA's deadline for US federal agencies: 2026-04-23.
- Upgrade Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Manager to a fixed version for your release line (20.15.4.2, 20.18).
- Limit who can run code or sign in on the hosts that run it.
- Check exposed instances for signs of compromise, not only for the version.
Description from NVD
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.
What this means for your architecture.
A CVE names a product. Whether it matters depends on where that product sits in your systems: what reaches it, which trust boundary it guards and what it can reach once compromised. Veriom maps your components, their relationships and your trust boundaries from your code, cloud and delivery evidence, so you can see where a component like this sits. The radar itself does not look at your systems.
Components it touches
- Network edge devices: VPNs, firewalls, routers and gateways. They sit between the internet and internal networks, so a flaw in one is often the first step into everything behind it.
Trust boundaries in play
- Host boundary. The attacker needs a foothold on the machine first; the flaw turns a small foothold into a bigger one.
- Isolation between components. The impact crosses out of the vulnerable component into others it should be isolated from.
Questions to answer about your own systems
- Where does Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Manager run in your systems, and at which version?
- Which of those hosts also run code or users you do not fully trust?
- What can it reach once compromised: which data stores, secrets and services?
Sources
- CVE records and CVSS scores from the NVD CVE API. This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD.
- Exploitation status from CISA’s Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog.
- Exploit likelihood from FIRST’s Exploit Prediction Scoring System (EPSS), refreshed daily.
- Explanations are written by Veriom from fixed templates over each record’s data, not by a person reviewing each CVE. Descriptions are quoted from the records as published.