Cisco IOS XE SD-WAN Software Authentication Bypass Vulnerability
Description
A vulnerability in Cisco IOS XE SD-WAN Software could allow an unauthenticated, physical attacker to bypass authentication and gain unrestricted access to the root shell of an affected device. The vulnerability exists because the affected software has insufficient authentication mechanisms for certain commands. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by stopping the boot initialization of an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to bypass authentication and gain unrestricted access to the root shell of the affected device.
AI Insight
LLM-synthesized narrative grounded in this CVE's description and references.
An unauthenticated, physical attacker can bypass authentication and gain root shell access on Cisco IOS XE SD-WAN devices.
Vulnerability
A vulnerability in Cisco IOS XE SD-WAN Software allows an unauthenticated, physical attacker to bypass authentication and gain unrestricted access to the root shell of an affected device. The issue exists because the software has insufficient authentication mechanisms for certain commands during boot initialization. Affected versions include Cisco IOS XE SD-WAN Software releases 16.9.1 through 16.10.1 [1].
Exploitation
An attacker must have physical access to the affected device. The exploit involves stopping the boot initialization process of the device, which triggers the insufficient authentication check for certain commands, thereby allowing the attacker to bypass authentication [1].
Impact
A successful exploit allows the attacker to gain unrestricted access to the root shell of the device. This grants full control over the device, leading to complete compromise of confidentiality, integrity, and availability (CIA) of the system [1].
Mitigation
Cisco has released software updates to address this vulnerability. There are no workarounds available. Users should upgrade to a fixed version of Cisco IOS XE SD-WAN Software as indicated in the Cisco Security Advisory [1].
AI Insight generated on May 25, 2026. Synthesized from this CVE's description and the cited reference URLs; citations are validated against the source bundle.
Affected products
2- Range: n/a
Patches
0No patches discovered yet.
Vulnerability mechanics
AI mechanics synthesis has not run for this CVE yet.
References
1- tools.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-auth-b-NzwhJHH7mitrevendor-advisoryx_refsource_CISCO
News mentions
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