CVE-2026-20323
Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center and Secure Firewall Threat Defense Software sftunnel Unauthorized Authentication Bypass Vulnerability
A vulnerability in the sftunnel inter-device communication protocol of Cisco Secure FMC Software and Cisco Secure FTD Software could allow an unauthenticated, adjacent attacker to impersonate the peer device and obtain access at the level of the manager role, which is equivalent to root.
This vulnerability is due to improper management of the TLS certificate for the sftunnel management connection. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by connecting to the sftunnel port using a crafted TLS certificate. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to become a registered sftunnel peer with root access. Note: The attack is successful only if the sftunnel connection is down or the attack can disrupt the sftunnel connection long enough to execute the attack.
Attack profile
How easy it is to exploit
- Attack vector
- Adjacent network
- Complexity
- High
- Privileges needed
- None
- User interaction
- None
What an attacker can affect
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
Exploit likelihood
What each source reports
CVE List Score used
8.3
Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center and Secure Firewall Threat Defense Software sftunnel Unauthorized Authentication Bypass Vulnerability
A vulnerability in the sftunnel inter-device communication protocol of Cisco Secure FMC Software and Cisco Secure FTD Software could allow an unauthenticated, adjacent attacker to impersonate the peer device and obtain access at the level of the manager role, which is equivalent to root.
This vulnerability is due to improper management of the TLS certificate for the sftunnel management connection. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by connecting to the sftunnel port using a crafted TLS certificate. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to become a registered sftunnel peer with root access. Note: The attack is successful only if the sftunnel connection is down or the attack can disrupt the sftunnel connection long enough to execute the attack.
- Record
CVE-2026-20323- CVSS 3.1
- 8.3 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-295
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2026-81139
8.3
A vulnerability in the sftunnel inter-device communication protocol of Cisco Secure FMC Software and Cisco Secure FTD Software could allow an unauthenticated, adjacent attacker to impersonate the peer device and obtain access at the level of the manager role, which is equivalent to root.
This vulnerability is due to improper management of the TLS certificate for the sftunnel management connection. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by connecting to the sftunnel port using a crafted TLS certificate. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to become a registered sftunnel peer with root access. Note: The attack is successful only if the sftunnel connection is down or the attack can disrupt the sftunnel connection long enough to execute the attack.
- Record
EUVD-2026-81139- CVSS 3.1
- 8.3 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-02
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-f2cp-mvp8-7wp4
8.3
A vulnerability in the sftunnel inter-device communication protocol of Cisco Secure FMC Software...
A vulnerability in the sftunnel inter-device communication protocol of Cisco Secure FMC Software and Cisco Secure FTD Software could allow an unauthenticated, adjacent attacker to impersonate the peer device and obtain access at the level of the manager role, which is equivalent to root.
This vulnerability is due to improper management of the TLS certificate for the sftunnel management connection. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by connecting to the sftunnel port using a crafted TLS certificate. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to become a registered sftunnel peer with root access. Note: The attack is successful only if the sftunnel connection is down or the attack can disrupt the sftunnel connection long enough to execute the attack.
- Record
GHSA-f2cp-mvp8-7wp4- CVSS 3.1
- 8.3 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-295
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
NVD
8.3
A vulnerability in the sftunnel inter-device communication protocol of Cisco Secure FMC Software and Cisco Secure FTD Software could allow an unauthenticated, adjacent attacker to impersonate the peer device and obtain access at the level of the manager role, which is equivalent to root.
This vulnerability is due to improper management of the TLS certificate for the sftunnel management connection. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by connecting to the sftunnel port using a crafted TLS certificate. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to become a registered sftunnel peer with root access. Note: The attack is successful only if the sftunnel connection is down or the attack can disrupt the sftunnel connection long enough to execute the attack.
- Record
CVE-2026-20323- CVSS 3.1
- 8.3 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-295
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
Affected products
History
| Recorded | Changed | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| first indexed | CVE List, EUVD, GitHub Advisories, NVD |
Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.
In short
CVE-2026-20323 is a high vulnerability (CVSS 8.3) in Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center (fmc), published September 16, 2026. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 0.13%, the 2nd percentile. No source names a fixed version.