Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Manager Storing Passwords in a Recoverable Format Vulnerability
Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Manager contains a storing passwords in a recoverable format vulnerability that allows an authenticated, local attacker to gain DCA user privileges by accessing a credential file for the DCA user on the filesystem as a low-privileged user.
A local attacker, with administrative privileges, can achieve full data confidentiality loss, arbitrary modification of data, complete denial of service or system unavailability. Federal agencies are required to remediate by 2026-04-23 under CISA BOD 22-01.
This is a Software Vulnerability (CWE-257) (CWE-257) vulnerability in Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Manager. 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. Exploitation requires local access, higher attack complexity, an administrative account, and no user interaction required.
Probably yes if any of these apply:
CISA added this CVE to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on 2026-04-20 based on evidence of active exploitation in the wild. Federal agencies required to remediate by 2026-04-23.
Manual remediation steps
Apply the Vendor Patch
This vulnerability is in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog — apply the vendor's security update as soon as possible.
CISA 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.
References
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