CVE Intelligence
Medium

CVE-2026-20354 — Cisco Secure Email S/MIME Ciphertext Decryption Vulnerabilty

Multiple vulnerabilities in the Secure/Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (S/MIME) decryption functionality of Cisco Secure Email could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to recover plain text from encrypted email messages. These vulnerabilities are due to insufficient validation of message integrity. An attacker could exploit these vulnerabilities by using a machine-in-the-middle technique to intercept and modify traffic between email gateways. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to obtain plaintext content from the encrypted communication.

Published Sep 2, 2026 · Updated Oct 15, 2026 · Sources: NIST National Vulnerability Database, CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP · CNA: cisco

Who exploits it and how urgent it is

A 0–100 score combining confirmed exploitation, ransomware and APT use, public exploits, EPSS and severity.

No exploitation signal in the sources consulted so far.
How the score was calculated
  • Technical severity (medium)+3

The score orders the patch queue; it does not replace your asset context (internet exposure, criticality, compensating controls).

Triage

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

Exploitation
Not confirmed
Not in CISA KEV — an absence of record, not proof it is unexploited.
EPSS FIRST
—
No EPSS score.
Affects
Cisco
Cisco Secure Email
CVSS base
5.9
Medium · 2 source(s)

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.

Exploitation
None
none · proof-of-concept · active
Automatable
No
can an attacker script the kill-chain steps
Technical impact
Partial
partial · total control of the vulnerable component

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.

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 Email).
  2. The attack is network-based and needs no privileges: restrict exposure (ACLs, VPN, WAF) until patched.
  3. No fix documented in the sources: reduce exposure and monitor the vendor advisory.
  4. Search available logs for exploit probes, errors and authentication anomalies.

Affected scope

Vendor, product and versions as the sources word them.

VendorProductVersionsStatusSource
Cisco Cisco Secure Email version 15.5.2-018version 16.5.0-780version 16.0.3-044version 16.0.2-112version 15.0.5-016version 16.0.4-016version 15.5.4-012version 16.0.1-017
and 16 more version 15.5.3-022version 16.0.0-054version 15.0.3-002version 16.0.0-050version 14.0.0-698version 15.5.1-055version 15.5.0-048version 15.0.1-030version 15.0.0-104version 14.3.0-032version 14.2.1-020version 13.5.4-038version 13.0.5-007version 14.2.0-620version 13.0.0-392version 13.5.1-277
Vulnerable CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP

Attack characteristics

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

Attack vector
Network
Attack complexity
High
Privileges required
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
None
Availability
None

Every base score collected

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

ScoreVersionSeverityExpl.ImpactScored by
5.9 CVSS 3.1 Medium 2.2 3.6 psirt@cisco.com via NIST National Vulnerability Database
5.9 CVSS 3.1 Medium — — cisco via CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N (score shown at the top: psirt@cisco.com)

Weakness MITRE

Weakness class according to MITRE’s CWE catalog.

CWE-354

Other CVEs with this weakness →

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).
web/proxy/WAF logsnetwork IDS/IPS

Timeline

What happened to this CVE, newest first.

  • 2026
  • Affected products added · cisco/cisco secure email
    Oct 15, 2026 · CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
  • SSVC assessment updated
    Oct 15, 2026 · CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
  • Record published
    Oct 15, 2026
  • CVSS changed · 5.9
    Oct 15, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
  • Source status changed · → Awaiting Analysis
    Oct 15, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
  • Record created in this database
    Oct 15, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
  • CVE published
    Sep 2, 2026 · cisco

Source activity

Repeated readings are counted rather than listed.

  • 1× Official description updated · Oct 15, 2026 – Oct 15, 2026

References

1 on the record

Elsewhere on this site

Cisco
every CVE for this vendor
CWE-354
other pages naming this weakness

Related CVEs (same products)

  • CVE-2026-76519 Cisco Secure Email Gateway Relative Path Traversal Vulnerability KEV 1d
  • CVE-2026-76461 Cisco Secure Email Gateway SQL Injection Vulnerability KEV Sep 14, 2026
  • CVE-2026-76440 Cisco Secure Email Gateway Security Hardening Release Sep 14, 2026
  • CVE-2026-76442 Cisco Secure Email Gateway Security Hardening Release Sep 14, 2026
  • CVE-2026-76443 Cisco Secure Email Gateway Security Hardening Release Sep 14, 2026
  • CVE-2026-20353 Cisco Secure Email Gateway Security Hardening Release Sep 14, 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 FIRST EPSS score.
  • 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-2026-20354 is "Cisco Secure Email S/MIME Ciphertext Decryption Vulnerabilty", rated Medium. It affects Cisco Secure Email (Cisco); versions are in the scope table. It is not in CISA KEV, which does not rule out exploitation. CVSS 5.9 describes technical severity. 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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