CVE-2026-20316: Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center Use of Hard-coded Password Vulnerability

CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities

Name

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

Vendor

Cisco

Product

Secure Firewall Management Center (FMC)

Added to the catalog

2026-07-29

Due date for US federal agencies

2026-08-01

Weaknesses

CWE-259

Catalog version

2026.10.30

Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center (FMC) formerly known as Firepower Management Center contains a use of hard-coded password vulnerability that 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.

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.

Ransomware use: CISA marks this vulnerability as known to be used in ransomware campaigns. CISA does not say which group used it.

Links in CISA's notes

• https://sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-fmc-static-cred-BET3Cjh
• https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/directives/bod-26-04-prioritizing-security-updates-based-risk
• https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/directives/bod-26-04-implementation-guidance-prioritizing-security-updates-based-risk
• https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-20316

Read on 2026-11-02T23:39:54.475Z under licence cisa-kev-cc0@b0067899 from https://www.cisa.gov/sites/default/files/feeds/known_exploited_vulnerabilities.json

NVD analysis

Status

Analyzed

Published

2026-07-29T17:16:51.840

Last modified

2026-10-24T13:10:00.147

Weaknesses

CWE-259

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.

References

• https://sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-fmc-static-cred-BET3Cjh (Vendor Advisory)
• https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2026-20316 (US Government Resource)

This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD.

Read on 2026-11-02T23:42:31.494Z under licence nvd-api-terms-of-use@ff2a5288 from https://services.nvd.nist.gov/rest/json/cves/2.0?cveId=CVE-2026-20316

CVE record

Title (CNA)

Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center Software Static Credential Vulnerability

Assigner

cisco

State

PUBLISHED

Published

2026-07-29T16:22:08.888Z

Updated

2026-09-16T20:14:18.851Z

Problem types

Use of Hard-coded Password

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.

References

• cisco-sa-fmc-static-cred-BET3Cjh

Read on 2026-11-03T02:19:01.505Z under licence cve-terms-of-use@81bfa2f3 from https://raw.githubusercontent.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/main/cves/2026/20xxx/CVE-2026-20316.json

Defensive techniques (MITRE D3FEND)

D3FEND maps these defensive techniques to the weakness (CWE) that NVD lists for this CVE, through the digital artifacts the weakness affects. D3FEND does not say they stop this vulnerability.

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