Description

Cisco has confirmed that two vulnerabilities affecting Catalyst SD-WAN Manager are being actively exploited in real-world attacks. The flaws, tracked as CVE-2026-20128 and CVE-2026-20122, allow attackers to gain unauthorized access and potentially deploy malicious components such as web shells. Security researchers observed multiple exploitation attempts originating from numerous IP addresses globally, indicating opportunistic scanning and attack activity targeting exposed systems. The vulnerabilities impact Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Manager (formerly vManage), a centralized platform used for managing SD-WAN infrastructure across enterprise networks. Attackers exploiting these weaknesses can bypass certain security mechanisms and manipulate the management interface of vulnerable devices.Security researchers from watchTowr reported observing threat actors actively exploiting these vulnerabilities to upload web shells onto affected systems. Once a web shell is deployed, attackers can execute commands remotely, maintain persistence, and potentially pivot deeper into the organization’s network environment. Telemetry collected by researchers indicates a spike in exploitation attempts on March 4, 2026, with attacks originating from various regions worldwide. Systems located in the United States experienced slightly higher activity compared to other regions. Because the exploitation appears mass-scanned and opportunistic, security experts warn that any publicly exposed and unpatched system should be treated as potentially compromised until a full investigation is completed. Cisco previously warned about other critical vulnerabilities in the same SD-WAN ecosystem, including CVE-2026-20127, which was exploited by a sophisticated threat actor to maintain persistent access in targeted organizations.