CVE-2026-20079
Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center Authentication Bypass Remote Code Execution Vulnerability
Cisco Firewall Management Center Authentication Bypass Using an Alternate Path or Channel Vulnerability is confirmed as actively exploited and is listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
Required action
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.
CISA notes
https://sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-onprem-fmc-authbypass-5JPp45V2 ; BOD 26-04: https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/directives/bod-26-04-prioritizing-security-updates-based-risk ; Forensics Triage Requirements: https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/directives/bod-26-04-implementation-guidance-prioritizing-security-updates-based-risk ; https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-20079
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.
Severity
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:HExploitation Context
as of October 17, 2026- CISA added CVE-2026-20079 to the KEV catalog 189 days after its CVE record was published. The median for entries added in 2026 so far is 14 days.
- It is one of 101 Cisco entries in the CISA KEV catalog, and one of 19 added in 2026.
- Its current EPSS score (88.2%) is higher than that of 71% of CISA KEV entries.
Affected Products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions |
|---|---|---|
| Cisco | Cisco Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center (FMC) | 7.0.0 7.0.0.1 7.0.1 7.1.0 7.0.1.1 7.1.0.1 7.0.2 7.2.0 7.0.2.1 7.0.3 7.1.0.2 7.2.0.1 7.0.4 7.2.1 7.0.5 7.3.0 7.2.2 7.3.1 7.2.3 7.1.0.3 7.2.3.1 7.2.4 7.0.6 7.2.4.1 7.2.5 7.3.1.1 7.4.0 7.0.6.1 7.2.5.1 7.4.1 7.2.6 7.4.1.1 7.0.6.2 7.2.7 7.2.5.2 7.3.1.2 7.2.8 7.6.0 7.4.2 7.2.8.1 7.0.6.3 7.4.2.1 7.2.9 7.0.7 7.7.0 7.4.2.2 7.2.10 7.6.1 7.4.2.3 7.0.8 7.6.2 7.7.10 7.2.10.1 7.0.8.1 7.6.2.1 7.2.10.2 7.7.10.1 7.4.2.4 7.4.3 7.6.3 7.7.11 7.6.4 10.0.0 7.4.4 7.4.5 7.0.9 7.2.11 7.7.12 7.6.5 7.4.6 10.0.1 7.4.7 |
References
2 LinksRecord Details
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CVE record data © The MITRE Corporation, used under the CVE Terms of Use. Exploited-in-the-wild data from the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog (CC0). Exploit prediction scores by FIRST EPSS (first.org/epss). This site is not endorsed or certified by MITRE, NVD, CISA, or FIRST.