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High

Command Injection in Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Manager CLI

IdentifiersCVE-2026-20245CWE-77

CVE-2026-20245 is a command injection vulnerability in the CLI of Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Manager (formerly SD-WAN vManage). The flaw is caused by insufficient validation of user-supplied input during processing of an uploaded file. An authenticated local attacker can exploit the issue by supplying or uploading a crafted file to the affected system, causing the CLI processing path to execute attacker-controlled commands. Successful exploitation results in arbitrary command execution with root privileges on the SD-WAN Manager host. Cisco stated the issue affects all Catalyst SD-WAN Manager deployment models and has observed active exploitation in limited cases.

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ANALYST BRIEF

Impact, mitigation & remediation

What it means. What to do now. Patch path, mitigations, and the assume-compromise checklist.

Impact

What an attacker gets, and what they’ve been doing with it.

Successful exploitation allows an attacker to execute arbitrary commands as root on the affected Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Manager instance. This provides full privilege escalation from the required netadmin-level access to root, enabling complete compromise of the management plane host. Cisco observed limited real-world exploitation resulting in configuration changes being pushed to edge devices, which could enable unauthorized network reconfiguration and broader downstream operational impact.

Mitigation

If you can’t patch tonight, do this now.

No specific workaround is described in the provided content. Interim defensive actions mentioned by Cisco include reviewing /var/log/scripts.log for suspicious entries related to crafted file upload activity, generating an admin-tech file for forensic review, verifying edge-device configurations for unauthorized changes, and working with Cisco TAC if indicators of compromise are present. Reducing exposure of management interfaces, especially internet exposure, would also reduce risk, although the provided content does not describe this as an official workaround.

Remediation

Patch, then assume compromise.

Upgrade Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Manager to the fixed software documented by Cisco in the advisory published on May 14, 2026. Cisco also recommends verifying the configuration of edge devices after remediation because exploitation has been observed to result in pushed configuration changes. Where compromise is suspected, preserve forensic evidence, review relevant logs including /var/log/scripts.log, collect an admin-tech bundle, and engage Cisco TAC for compromise assessment.
PUBLIC EXPLOITS

Exploits

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VALID 0 / 0 TOTALView more in app

No public exploit code observed for this vulnerability.

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Threat actor evidence

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Associated malware

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Detection signatures

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Vendor-by-vendor mapping

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Social activity19

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