CVE-2026-20079 — Cisco Firewall Management Center Authentication Bypass Using an Alternate Path or Channel Vulnerability

Triage

Is it exploited, how likely is exploitation, what does it touch, and how severe do the sources call it.

CISA SSVC assessment CISA

Three decision points CISA publishes for the CVEs it assesses (SSVC 2.0.3). A stakeholder decision, not a severity score.

Remediation

Fixes and mitigations documented by the sources — linked to the original advisory.

No fix documented by the sources we poll. That does not mean none exists: check the vendor advisory.

CISA required action CISA

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.

US federal deadline: Sep 12, 2026 — passed 33 day(s) ago

First 24 hours

Ordered from the record’s own fields — exposure first, because you cannot patch what you have not found. A rule-generated starting point.

1. Identify exposed assets running the affected vendor/product/version combinations (Cisco Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center (FMC), Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center).
2. Treat as emergency remediation: the CVE is in CISA KEV (confirmed exploitation).
3. The attack is network-based and needs no privileges: restrict exposure (ACLs, VPN, WAF) until patched.
4. No fix documented in the sources: reduce exposure and monitor the vendor advisory.
5. EPSS ahead of 100% of scored CVEs: prioritize it in the patch queue.
6. Search available logs for exploit probes matching the vulnerability class (authentication), errors and authentication anomalies.

Affected scope

Vendor, product and versions as the sources word them.

Attack characteristics

The CVSS vector, decoded. It describes the attack, not your exposure to it.

Every base score collected

Sources score independently and may disagree; each row says who scored it and under which version.

Weakness MITRE

Weakness class according to MITRE’s CWE catalog.

CWE-288 · Authentication Bypass Using an Alternate Path or Channel

Other CVEs with this weakness →

CISA KEV details CISA

CISA lists a CVE once it has evidence of exploitation against real targets.

CISA records ransomware use only for campaigns it has confirmed, so “Unknown” means unrecorded, not ruled out. The deadline binds US federal agencies; for everyone else it is a reference date.

Public exploits, PoCs and detection templates

Public code that demonstrates or tests the flaw raises the odds of mass exploitation — and Nuclei templates help find vulnerable assets in your environment.

Warning: public PoCs are sometimes disguised malware. Use them only for authorized testing in an isolated environment. This portal does not host exploit code — it only points to the sources.

EPSS over time FIRST

Oct 13, 2026 → Oct 14, 2026 · 2 reading(s) · max 88.18%

Detection

Read off the CVSS vector and the weakness class. Starting points, not tested rules.

• Prioritize edge telemetry for the network-reachable component (proxy, WAF, IDS/IPS).
• Review authentication logs: logins without MFA, anomalous sessions and recently created accounts.
• Hunt retroactively in logs from before Sep 9, 2026 (KEV listing): exploitation may have started earlier.

Timeline

What happened to this CVE, newest first.

• 2026
• Affected products added · cisco/cisco secure firewall management center (fmc)
  Oct 13, 2026 · CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
• SSVC assessment updated
  Oct 13, 2026 · CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
• Record published
  Oct 13, 2026
• Affected products added · cisco/secure firewall management center
  Oct 13, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
• CVSS changed · 10.0
  Oct 13, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
• Source status changed · → Analyzed
  Oct 13, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
• Added to CISA KEV (detected)
  Oct 13, 2026 · CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities
• Record created in this database
  Oct 13, 2026 · CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities
• Added to CISA KEV catalog
  Sep 8, 2026 · CISA
• CVE published
  Mar 4, 2026 · cisco

Source activity

Repeated readings are counted rather than listed.

• 2× References added · Oct 13, 2026 – Oct 13, 2026
• 1× Official description updated · Oct 13, 2026 – Oct 13, 2026

References

7 on the record

• sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-onprem-fmc-aut
  Vendor Advisory, NIST National Vulnerability Database
• www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog
  US Government Resource, NIST National Vulnerability Database
• blog.talosintelligence.com/fmc-ongoing-exploitation/
  Exploit, Third Party Advisory, NIST National Vulnerability Database
• github.com/advisories/GHSA-mv8w-c2qv-cgrg
  GitHub Security Advisories
• blog.talosintelligence.com/fmc-ongoing-exploitation
  GitHub Security Advisories
• nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-20079
  GitHub Security Advisories
• seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2026/Aug/80
  Exploit, Mailing List, Third Party Advisory, NIST National Vulnerability Database

Elsewhere on this site

Related CVEs (same products)

• Medium CVE-2026-20316 Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center Use of Hard-coded Password Vulnerability KEV Jul 29, 2026
• Critical CVE-2026-20131 Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center (FMC) Software and Cisco Security Cloud Control (SCC) Firewall Management Deserialization of Untrusted Data Vulnerability KEV Mar 4, 2026
• Medium CVE-2026-20044 Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center Command Injection Vulnerability Mar 4, 2026
• Medium CVE-2026-20018 Cisco Firepower Management Center Software and Firepower Threat Defense Path Traversal Vulnerability Mar 4, 2026
• High CVE-2026-20002 SQL Injection in Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center Mar 4, 2026
• Medium CVE-2026-20003 SQL Injection in Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center Mar 4, 2026

Not in any source we poll

Listed rather than left blank: an empty field and an unmeasured one look identical on screen, and only one is a reason to look elsewhere.

• No fixed version, patch or mitigation documented.
• No confirmed IOCs, IP addresses, domains, file hashes, or malware artifacts supplied.
• No organization-specific asset inventory, compensating-control status, or patch deployment evidence supplied.
• No exploit packet captures, log samples, or incident case IDs supplied.

Answered from this record

Text assembled only from the fields above — no additional claims.

What should defenders know first?

CVE-2026-20079 is "Cisco Firewall Management Center Authentication Bypass Using an Alternate Path or Channel Vulnerability", rated Critical. It affects Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center (FMC) (Cisco); versions are in the scope table. It is in CISA KEV: there is evidence of real-world exploitation. CVSS 10.0 describes technical severity. EPSS 88.18% estimates the probability of exploitation in 30 days; neither replaces your asset context. First verify whether exposed or business-critical assets run the affected versions, apply vendor fixes or mitigations, and preserve logs for review.

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