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CVE-2026-20079

Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center Authentication Bypass Remote Code Execution Vulnerability

Critical10.0Known exploitedPublic exploitEPSS 88.7%
Published
Updated
Reserved
Assigned by
cisco

Description

A vulnerability in the web interface of Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center (FMC) Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to bypass authentication and execute script files on an affected device to obtain root access to the underlying operating system.  This vulnerability is due to an improper system process that is created at boot time. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending crafted HTTP requests to an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute a variety of scripts and commands that allow root access to the device. 

Exploited in the wild

CISA lists this vulnerability in its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog as Cisco Firewall Management Center Authentication Bypass Using an Alternate Path or Channel Vulnerability.

Added
9 Sept 2026
Fix due (US federal)
12 Sept 2026
Used by ransomware
Not known

Apply mitigations in accordance with vendor instructions, ensuring compliance with CISA’s BOD 26-04 Prioritizing Security Updates Based on Risk (see URL in Notes) guidance and CISA’s “Forensics Triage Requirements” (see URL in Notes). Follow applicable BOD 26-04 guidance for cloud services or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable. Stakeholders are responsible for evaluating each asset's internet exposure and ensuring adherence to BOD 26-04 patching guidelines.

Public exploit

An exploit or proof of concept is public: anyone can try it against an unpatched system. CISA's SSVC rates its exploitation: it is being exploited.

Timeline

  1. ID reserved

    By cisco

  2. · 5 months later

    Published

  3. · 6 months later

    Added to CISA KEV

    Known exploited in the wild

  4. · 7 days later

    Record updated

Changes after publication (a new score, a public exploit, EPSS crossing 1, 10 or 50 %, leaving KEV) are kept since November 2026; earlier ones are not known.

Scores

CVSS scores of CVE-2026-20079, by who scored it
Scored byCVSSScoreVector
ciscoCNA (assigner)3.1Critical10.0CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
NVDNVD · Analyzed3.1Critical10.0CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS (exploitation in 30 days)
88.7% · top 0.2% of all CVEs (7 Nov 2026)
CISA SSVC
Exploitation: active · Automatable: yes · Technical impact: total
Loading the EPSS history…

The list uses the assigner's score when there is one, then CISA's, then NVD's: Critical 10.0.

Weakness

Affected products

  • Cisco · Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center (FMC)

    • affected 7.0.0
    • affected 7.0.0.1
    • affected 7.0.1
    • affected 7.1.0
    • affected 7.0.1.1
    • affected 7.1.0.1
    • affected 7.0.2
    • affected 7.2.0
    • affected 7.0.2.1
    • affected 7.0.3
    • affected 7.1.0.2
    • affected 7.2.0.1
    • affected 7.0.4
    • affected 7.2.1
    • affected 7.0.5
    • affected 7.3.0
    • affected 7.2.2
    • affected 7.3.1
    • affected 7.2.3
    • affected 7.1.0.3
    • affected 7.2.3.1
    • affected 7.2.4
    • affected 7.0.6
    • affected 7.2.4.1
    • affected 7.2.5
    • affected 7.3.1.1
    • affected 7.4.0
    • affected 7.0.6.1
    • affected 7.2.5.1
    • affected 7.4.1
    • affected 7.2.6
    • affected 7.4.1.1
    • affected 7.0.6.2
    • affected 7.2.7
    • affected 7.2.5.2
    • affected 7.3.1.2
    • affected 7.2.8
    • affected 7.6.0
    • affected 7.4.2
    • affected 7.2.8.1
    • and 32 more

What to do

Exploitation: In August 2026, the Cisco PSIRT became aware of active exploitation of this vulnerability. Cisco strongly recommends that customers upgrade to a fixed software release to remediate this vulnerability.

References (4)

Sources

The same CVE in the primary databases and aggregators, to check against.

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Record last updated .