CVE-2026-20316

Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center Use of Hard-coded Password Vulnerability

Actively exploited (CISA KEV) Medium 5.3 CVSS 3.1

Description

A vulnerability in the web interface of Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center (FMC) Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to log in to an affected device using a low-privileged account to access sensitive data within the impacted systems. This vulnerability is due to the presence of static user credentials for a low-privileged account. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by using the account to log in to an affected system. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to log in to the affected system and access sensitive data as the low-privileged user. Note: If the FMC management interface does not have public internet access, the attack surface that is associated with this vulnerability is reduced. Cisco has assigned this security advisory a Security Impact Rating (SIR) of High rather than Medium as the score indicates. The reason is that this vulnerability can be used with other Cisco Secure FMC Software vulnerabilities to elevate privileges.

Description as published by the source, in English.

Key facts

Published: 2026-07-29
Last modified: 2026-08-01
Assigned by: psirt@cisco.com
CVSS vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N
Scored by: psirt@cisco.com
Probability of exploitation: 0.8 % higher than 53 % of all known vulnerabilities
EPSS, next 30 days, model v2026.06.15
Fix available: Not registered in the sources

Actively exploited

CISA added this vulnerability to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalogue on 2026-07-29, with a remediation deadline of 2026-08-01 for US federal agencies.

Required action: 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.

Affected products

Vendor	Product	Versions	Status
Cisco	Secure Firewall Management Center	≥ 10.0.0, ≤ 10.0.1	Affected
Cisco	Secure Firewall Management Center	≥ 7.0.0, ≤ 7.0.9	Affected
Cisco	Secure Firewall Management Center	≥ 7.2.0, ≤ 7.2.11	Affected
Cisco	Secure Firewall Management Center	≥ 7.3.0, ≤ 7.3.1.2	Affected
Cisco	Secure Firewall Management Center	≥ 7.4.0, ≤ 7.4.7	Affected
Cisco	Secure Firewall Management Center	≥ 7.6.0, ≤ 7.6.5	Affected
Cisco	Secure Firewall Management Center	≥ 7.7.0, ≤ 7.7.12	Affected

Weakness type

CWE-259: Use of Hard-coded Password
The product contains a hard-coded password, which it uses for its own inbound authentication or for outbound communication to external components.

References

https://sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-fm… Vendor Advisory
https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2026-20316 US Government Resource

Related at Berigo

Articles

Static account in Cisco Secure FMC actively exploited Mentions this CVE 2026-07-30
On 29 July 2026 CISA added CVE-2026-20316 to its catalog of known exploited vulnerabilities. The vulnerability is a static user account in the web in…
Approved partners get access to a model that finds unknown vulnerabilities Same product 2026-08-12
OpenAI is expanding Daybreak with two access levels and releasing GPT-5.6-Cyber, a model trained for tasks such as finding zero-day vulnerabilities a…
Cisco closes top-severity holes in SD-WAN and IOS XE, and there is no way around them Same product 2026-08-06
Cisco published security updates for Catalyst SD-WAN, IOS XE and the Integrated Management Controller on 5 August 2026. Three of the SD-WAN vulnerabi…
Chaos hides command traffic behind the browser Same product 2026-07-23
Cisco Talos has analysed msaRAT, a Rust-based remote access trojan that lets the browser do the work so the traffic looks legitimate.

Does this affect you?

A vulnerability matters only if you run the product, in an affected version, somewhere an attacker can reach.

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Sources and freshness

CVE

What it is: A reference number naming one specific vulnerability, for example CVE-2024-9474.
What it tells you: Which vulnerability we are talking about, and in which product.
What it does NOT tell you: Nothing about how serious it is, whether anyone is exploiting it, or whether it concerns you.
Why it matters: Without a shared number, vendor, authority and tooling cannot discuss the same flaw.
Used with the others: The number is the key. NVD, KEV and EPSS all describe the same CVE.

NVD CWE CISA KEV EPSS

How to read this together

No single value should be used on its own. A high CVSS score does not mean a vulnerability is being exploited, and a low one does not mean it is harmless. The four sources answer four different questions.

CVE names the specific vulnerability.
NVD adds severity and technical detail about it.
CWE describes the type of mistake behind it.
CISA KEV shows that it is already being exploited.
EPSS estimates how likely exploitation is soon.

The order that decides what is urgent

Do you actually have the product?
Is the version you run affected?
Is it listed in CISA KEV?
Does it have a high EPSS score?
Is the system reachable from the internet or from others?
How important is the system to the business?
Are there compensating controls already in place?

The first two questions are not about the vulnerability at all. They are about you, and they remove most of the list before you start.

A short example

Fix this week

CVSS 6,5 (medium)

In CISA KEV: yes
EPSS: 94 per cent
A firewall facing the internet

Can be scheduled

CVSS 9,8 (critical)

In CISA KEV: no
EPSS: 0,04 per cent
A test server with no internet access

Sorted by CVSS alone, the one on the right comes first. It is the more serious flaw in theory. But the one on the left is being used against real organisations right now, and it sits where an attacker can reach it. That is the one to fix first.

The critical one still has to be fixed. It just does not have to be fixed today.

This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. CVE and the CVE logo are registered trademarks of The MITRE Corporation; CVE records are used under the CVE Terms of Use. CWE is a trademark of The MITRE Corporation, used per the CWE Terms of Use. KEV data from CISA (CC0). Exploitation probability from EPSS, a FIRST.org project. Open-source package data from OSV and the GitHub Advisory Database (CC-BY 4.0).

Scores and vectors are shown as published by the sources. The ordering of results is Berigo's own editorial assessment, described on the search page, and is not NVD data. An empty result never means a system is safe.