CVE-2026-20079

CRITICALPre-NVD 10.010.0—
EchelonGraph scoreHIGH confidence

Score elevated to 10.0 because this CVE is listed on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog (added 2026-09-09), indicating real-world exploitation has been confirmed by US federal agencies. the CNA's CVSS baseline 10.0 retained for reference (NVD's own analysis pending). Confidence: HIGH.

Triggered by: CISA KEV (actively exploited)
Sources: cisa_kev, cna:cisco, epss, ghsa
Trending — KEV-added this weekExploited in the wild
10.0EG
EchelonGraph verdictPatch nowTreat as an emergency — this is being exploited.
  • Actively exploited in the wild (CISA-KEV)
CISA-KEV: ExploitedEPSS PROB: 76%CVSS: 10.0Exploit: cisa kev · ssvc active · Metasploit · epss top5pct · epss high · public exploitExposed: 0

No vendor fix yet — apply a workaround or compensating control (WAF / firewall / segmentation) and watch for a patch.

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. 

CVSS v3
10.0
EG Score
10.0(high)
EG Risk
100(Act)
EG Risk 100/100SSVC: Act

EG Risk is EchelonGraph's 0–100 priority score: it fuses intrinsic severity with real-world exploitation and automatability so you can rank equal-severity CVEs and fix the most dangerous first. Higher = act sooner. Distinct from the 0–10 EG Score (severity).

How it’s computed
Severity100% × 45%
Exploitation100% × 40%
Automatability100% × 15%
Action: Fix now — active exploitation, automatable, high impact.
EPSS PROB
76%
EPSS %ILE
99%
KEV
⚠ Exploited

Published

March 4, 2026

Last Modified

September 16, 2026

Advisory Details (4)

Auto-updated Sep 16, 2026
No patch confirmed yet.
generic

Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center Software Authentication Bypass Vulnerability

https://sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-onprem-fmc-authbypass-5JPp45V2
cisa Patch Available🔴 Active Exploitation

Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog | CISA

Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog | CISA. Listed in CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog.

https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2026-20079
generic🔴 Active Exploitation

Active exploitation of Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center vulnerabilities

https://blog.talosintelligence.com/fmc-ongoing-exploitation/
generic

Full Disclosure: CVE-2026-20079 - Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center Authentication Bypass to Root RCE

http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2026/Aug/80

Vendor Advisories for CVE-2026-20079(2)

These vendors published their own advisory mentioning this CVE — often with vendor-specific remediation steps + affected product lists not in NVD.

Weakness Classification(1)

MITRE Common Weakness Enumeration — the root-cause categories this CVE belongs to.

Data Freshness Timeline

(refreshed 59× in last 7d / 115× in last 30d)

Each row is a source pipeline that fetched or updated this CVE on that date, with what changed. For example, "NVD update" means NVD published or revised its analysis for this CVE; "MITRE cvelistV5" means we ingested or refreshed it from the CNA feed. Most recent first.

Showing the most recent 100 of 172 total refreshes for this CVE.

  1. 2026-09-19 17:46 UTCGHSA enrichment
  2. 2026-09-19 13:42 UTCGHSA enrichment
  3. 2026-09-19 09:37 UTCGHSA enrichment
  4. 2026-09-19 05:32 UTCGHSA enrichment
  5. 2026-09-19 01:28 UTCGHSA enrichment
  6. 2026-09-18 21:24 UTCEG score recompute
  7. 2026-09-18 21:24 UTCGHSA enrichment
  8. 2026-09-18 19:27 UTCEPSS rescore
  9. 2026-09-18 19:20 UTCCISA KEV update
  10. 2026-09-18 17:20 UTCGHSA enrichment
  11. 2026-09-18 14:15 UTCCISA KEV update
  12. 2026-09-18 13:16 UTCGHSA enrichment
  13. 2026-09-18 09:12 UTCGHSA enrichment
  14. 2026-09-18 05:08 UTCGHSA enrichment
  15. 2026-09-18 01:04 UTCGHSA enrichment
  16. 2026-09-17 21:00 UTCEG score recompute
  17. 2026-09-17 21:00 UTCGHSA enrichment
  18. 2026-09-17 16:55 UTCGHSA enrichment
  19. 2026-09-17 12:29 UTCGHSA enrichment
  20. 2026-09-17 08:23 UTCGHSA enrichment
  21. 2026-09-17 04:18 UTCGHSA enrichment
  22. 2026-09-17 00:14 UTCGHSA enrichment
  23. 2026-09-16 20:09 UTCEG score recompute
  24. 2026-09-16 20:09 UTCGHSA enrichment
  25. 2026-09-16 17:23 UTCEG score recompute
Show 75 more
  1. 2026-09-16 17:23 UTCGHSA enrichment
  2. 2026-09-16 16:23 UTCEG score recompute
  3. 2026-09-16 16:23 UTCGHSA enrichment
  4. 2026-09-16 15:38 UTCEG score recompute
  5. 2026-09-16 15:38 UTCGHSA enrichment
  6. 2026-09-16 14:10 UTCCISA KEV update
  7. 2026-09-16 14:07 UTCEPSS rescore
  8. 2026-09-16 11:32 UTCGHSA enrichment
  9. 2026-09-16 07:26 UTCEG score recompute
  10. 2026-09-16 07:26 UTCGHSA enrichment
  11. 2026-09-16 05:14 UTCEPSS rescore
  12. 2026-09-16 03:21 UTCGHSA enrichment
  13. 2026-09-15 23:16 UTCGHSA enrichment
  14. 2026-09-15 19:12 UTCGHSA enrichment
  15. 2026-09-15 15:07 UTCGHSA enrichment
  16. 2026-09-15 11:03 UTCGHSA enrichment
  17. 2026-09-15 06:59 UTCGHSA enrichment
  18. 2026-09-15 02:54 UTCGHSA enrichment
  19. 2026-09-14 22:49 UTCGHSA enrichment
  20. 2026-09-14 19:24 UTCCISA KEV update
  21. 2026-09-14 18:44 UTCGHSA enrichment
  22. 2026-09-14 14:39 UTCGHSA enrichment
  23. 2026-09-14 10:34 UTCGHSA enrichment
  24. 2026-09-14 06:29 UTCGHSA enrichment
  25. 2026-09-14 02:25 UTCGHSA enrichment
  26. 2026-09-13 22:20 UTCGHSA enrichment
  27. 2026-09-13 18:16 UTCEG score recompute
  28. 2026-09-13 18:16 UTCGHSA enrichment
  29. 2026-09-13 16:46 UTCEPSS rescore
  30. 2026-09-13 14:12 UTCGHSA enrichment
  31. 2026-09-13 10:08 UTCGHSA enrichment
  32. 2026-09-13 06:03 UTCGHSA enrichment
  33. 2026-09-13 01:58 UTCGHSA enrichment
  34. 2026-09-12 21:55 UTCGHSA enrichment
  35. 2026-09-12 17:51 UTCEG score recompute
  36. 2026-09-12 17:51 UTCGHSA enrichment
  37. 2026-09-12 15:00 UTCEPSS rescore
  38. 2026-09-12 13:47 UTCGHSA enrichment
  39. 2026-09-12 09:43 UTCGHSA enrichment
  40. 2026-09-12 05:39 UTCGHSA enrichment
  41. 2026-09-12 01:34 UTCGHSA enrichment
  42. 2026-09-11 21:30 UTCGHSA enrichment
  43. 2026-09-11 18:49 UTCCISA KEV update
  44. 2026-09-11 17:25 UTCEG score recompute
  45. 2026-09-11 17:25 UTCGHSA enrichment
  46. 2026-09-11 14:52 UTCEPSS rescore
  47. 2026-09-11 13:21 UTCEG score recompute
  48. 2026-09-11 13:21 UTCGHSA enrichment
  49. 2026-09-11 09:36 UTCEPSS rescore
  50. 2026-09-11 09:17 UTCGHSA enrichment
  51. 2026-09-11 05:13 UTCGHSA enrichment
  52. 2026-09-11 01:09 UTCGHSA enrichment
  53. 2026-09-10 21:05 UTCGHSA enrichment
  54. 2026-09-10 19:28 UTCCISA KEV update
  55. 2026-09-10 17:01 UTCGHSA enrichment
  56. 2026-09-10 12:57 UTCGHSA enrichment
  57. 2026-09-10 12:43 UTCEG score recompute
  58. 2026-09-10 12:43 UTCGHSA enrichment
  59. 2026-09-10 09:34 UTCEPSS rescore
  60. 2026-09-10 08:39 UTCGHSA enrichment
  61. 2026-09-10 04:34 UTCEG score recompute
  62. 2026-09-10 04:34 UTCGHSA enrichment
  63. 2026-09-10 04:01 UTCEG score recompute
  64. 2026-09-10 04:01 UTCGHSA enrichment
  65. 2026-09-10 00:35 UTCGHSA enrichment
  66. 2026-09-09 20:30 UTCEG score recompute
  67. 2026-09-09 20:29 UTCGHSA enrichment
  68. 2026-09-09 19:55 UTCEG score recompute
  69. 2026-09-09 19:55 UTCGHSA enrichment
  70. 2026-09-09 19:08 UTCCISA KEV update
  71. 2026-09-09 17:34 UTCEG score recompute
  72. 2026-09-09 17:34 UTCGHSA enrichment
  73. 2026-09-09 16:55 UTCEG score recompute
  74. 2026-09-09 16:55 UTCGHSA enrichment
  75. 2026-09-07 16:01 UTCEPSS rescore

Publicly available exploits

(4 references)

Working exploit code is in the public domain (1 Metasploit module) (2 GitHub PoCs). Defenders should treat patch urgency accordingly — public PoCs typically lead to mass-exploitation within 24-72 hours.

  • GitHub PoCCyberAuth/CVE-2026-20079
    First seen Aug 17, 2026

    Python proof of concept for CVE-2026-20079 affecting Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center.

    Open source ↗
  • GitHub PoC0xBlackash/CVE-2026-20079
    First seen Mar 28, 2026

    CVE-2026-20079

    Open source ↗
  • Metasploitexploit/linux/http/cisco_fmc_auth_bypass_rce✓ verified
    First seen Mar 4, 2026

    Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center Authentication Bypass RCE

    Open source ↗
  • Nucleihttp/cves/2026/CVE-2026-20079.yaml
    First seen Jan 1, 2026

    Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center - Authentication Bypass

    Open source ↗

Frequently asked(6)

What is CVE-2026-20079?
CVE-2026-20079 is a critical vulnerability published on March 4, 2026. 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…
When was CVE-2026-20079 disclosed?
CVE-2026-20079 was first published in the National Vulnerability Database on March 4, 2026, with the most recent update on September 16, 2026. EchelonGraph re-ingests CVE updates from NVD on a 2-hour cycle, so this page reflects the latest published state.
Is CVE-2026-20079 actively exploited?
Yes. CISA added CVE-2026-20079 to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on September 9, 2026, affecting Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center (FMC) and Security Cloud Control (SCC) Firewall Management. KEV listing indicates confirmed exploitation in the wild; this CVE warrants immediate patching attention.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2026-20079?
CVE-2026-20079 has a CVSS v4.0 base score of 10.0 (CNA self-assessment; NVD's own analysis pending).
Which products are affected by CVE-2026-20079?
CVE-2026-20079 affects Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center (FMC) and Security Cloud Control (SCC) Firewall Management. The full affected-products list, including version ranges and fixed versions, is shown in the Affected Packages section of this page.
How do I remediate CVE-2026-20079?
Patch to the fixed version published by the affected vendor. Where vendor advisories exist for CVE-2026-20079, EchelonGraph cross-links them in the Vendor Advisories panel below — those typically contain the canonical remediation steps, fixed version numbers, and any vendor-specific mitigations.

Dependency Blast Radius

Explore the affected products and dependency analysis for CVE-2026-20079

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