CISA recently issued Emergency Directive 26-03, requiring federal agencies to take immediate action to mitigate vulnerabilities affecting Cisco SD-WAN systems. The directive was issued after security agencies observed active exploitation of vulnerabilities that could allow attackers to gain privileged access to SD-WAN management components.
Federal agencies must quickly identify affected systems, apply vendor fixes, and verify that SD-WAN management infrastructure is not exposed or compromised. This post outlines what the directive requires and how Forward Enterprise helps organizations rapidly identify impacted infrastructure, validate exposure, and confirm remediation across complex networks.
Who should read this post
- Security and Network Operations teams managing Cisco SD-WAN infrastructure
- Network engineers responsible for WAN edge, SD-WAN controllers, or branch connectivity
- Risk and compliance professionals working in public-sector or enterprise environments responding to CISA directives
What is covered in this post
- Summary of CISA Emergency Directive 26-03 and its significance
- Key actions required by the directive
- How Forward Networks helps agencies and enterprises meet each requirement
- Practical next steps for your organization
CISA’s Directive: The Core Requirements
CISA issued Emergency Directive 26-03 in response to active exploitation of vulnerabilities affecting Cisco SD-WAN management systems.
These vulnerabilities could allow attackers to bypass authentication, gain administrative access, and potentially control SD-WAN infrastructure across distributed enterprise environments.
The directive instructs impacted federal agencies to rapidly identify vulnerable systems, apply patches, and verify that SD-WAN management planes are properly secured.
Key Actions and Deadlines
| Requirement | Description |
| Identify Cisco SD-WAN Infrastructure | Inventory all Cisco SD-WAN components including controllers and management systems |
| Apply Vendor Fixes | Update affected systems to Cisco’s patched software releases |
| Review Management Plane Exposure | Ensure SD-WAN management interfaces are not exposed to untrusted networks |
| Investigate Potential Compromise | Review logs and system activity for indicators of unauthorized access |
| Confirm Remediation | Validate that patches and mitigations have been applied successfully |
While the directive applies specifically to federal agencies, organizations running Cisco SD-WAN infrastructure should treat these actions as urgent best practices for mitigating potential compromise.
Identifying Impacted Cisco SD-WAN Systems
Manual asset tracking often makes it difficult to locate every SD-WAN component across hybrid environments.
Controllers, orchestrators, and WAN edge devices may exist across:
- Data centers
- Cloud environments
- Remote branch sites
- Lab or staging environments
With Forward Enterprise’s digital twin, you can quickly:
- Identify all Cisco SD-WAN infrastructure across your network
- Map relationships between controllers, edges, and connected networks
- Verify which systems may be affected by the directive
This allows teams to quickly answer the first question every directive raises:
Where are the affected systems in my environment?
Determining Management Plane Exposure
One of the most critical risks with SD-WAN infrastructure is unintended exposure of management interfaces.
Forward enables engineers to verify:
- Whether SD-WAN management interfaces are reachable from external networks
- Whether segmentation policies properly isolate control infrastructure
- Whether unexpected connectivity paths exist
Using the network digital twin, teams can analyze all possible connectivity paths and determine if attackers could reach management services through misconfigurations or policy gaps.
Investigating Potential Compromise
If attackers gain privileged access to SD-WAN infrastructure, they may modify:
- routing behavior
- segmentation policies
- security controls
- connectivity between sites
Forward Enterprise enables teams to compare network state across snapshots to:
- Identify unexpected configuration changes
- Track when changes occurred
- Determine whether connectivity behavior has been altered
This historical visibility can significantly accelerate incident investigations.
NQE to identify devices affected by CVEs referenced in CISA Emergency Directive 26-03 impacting Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Manager and Controller platforms.
/*
Find devices where NIST CVE's are in CISA Emergency Directive 26-03.
While the directive is written for federal agencies,
the threat is relevant to any organization using Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Manager (formerly SD-WAN vManage), regardless of configuration, and
Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Controller (formerly SD-WAN vSmart) platforms.
Organizations should use the CISA Emergency Directive 26-03 catalog as an input to their vulnerability management prioritization framework.
More info on the CISA website: https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/directives/ed-26-03-mitigate-vulnerabilities-cisco-sd-wan-systems.
*/
ED2603 =
"""json
[{
"title": "CISA Emergency Directive 26-03: Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Manager and Controller Vulnerabilities",
"vulnerabilities": [
{
"cveID": "CVE-2022-20775",
"vendorProject": "Cisco",
"product": "SD-WAN",
"vulnerabilityName": "Cisco SD-WAN Path Traversal Vulnerability",
"dateAdded": "2026-02-25",
"shortDescription": "Cisco SD-WAN CLI contains a path traversal vulnerability that could allow an authenticated local attacker to gain elevated privileges via improper access controls on commands within the application CLI. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary commands as the root user.",
"requiredAction": "Please adhere to CISA’s guidelines to assess exposure and mitigate risks associated with Cisco SD-WAN devices as outlines in CISA’s Emergency Directive 26-03 (URL listed below in Notes) and CISA’s “Hunt & Hardening Guidance for Cisco SD-WAN Devices (URL listed below in Notes). Adhere to the applicable BOD 22-01 guidance for cloud services or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are not available.",
"dueDate": "2026-02-27",
"knownRansomwareCampaignUse": "Unknown",
"notes": "CISA Mitigation Instructions: https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/directives/ed-26-03-mitigate-vulnerabilities-cisco-sd-wan-systems ; https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/directives/supplemental-direction-ed-26-03-hunt-and-hardening-guidance-cisco-sd-wan-systems ; https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/docs/csa/cisco-sa-sd-wan-priv-E6e8tEdF.html ; https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-20775",
"cwes": [
"CWE-25",
"CWE-282"
]
},
{
"cveID": "CVE-2026-20127",
"vendorProject": "Cisco",
"product": "Catalyst SD-WAN Controller and Manager",
"vulnerabilityName": "Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Controller and Manager Authentication Bypass Vulnerability",
"dateAdded": "2026-02-25",
"shortDescription": "Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Controller, formerly SD-WAN vSmart, and Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Manager, formerly SD-WAN vManage, contain an authentication bypass vulnerability could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to bypass authentication and obtain administrative privileges on an affected system. This vulnerability exists because the peering authentication mechanism in an affected system is not working properly. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending crafted requests to an affected system. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to log in to an affected Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Controller as an internal, high-privileged, non-root user account. Using this account, the attacker could access NETCONF, which would then allow the attacker to manipulate network configuration for the SD-WAN fabric.",
"requiredAction": "Please adhere to CISA’s guidelines to assess exposure and mitigate risks associated with Cisco SD-WAN devices as outlines in CISA’s Emergency Directive 26-03 (URL listed below in Notes) and CISA’s “Hunt & Hardening Guidance for Cisco SD-WAN Devices (URL listed below in Notes). Adhere to the applicable BOD 22-01 guidance for cloud services or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are not available.",
"dueDate": "2026-02-27",
"knownRansomwareCampaignUse": "Unknown",
"notes": "CISA Mitigation Instructions: https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/directives/ed-26-03-mitigate-vulnerabilities-cisco-sd-wan-systems ; https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/directives/supplemental-direction-ed-26-03-hunt-and-hardening-guidance-cisco-sd-wan-systems ; https://sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-sdwan-rpa-EHchtZk ; https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-20127",
"cwes": [
"CWE-287"
]
}
]
}]
""";
getAllEd2603 =
foreach r in ED2603
foreach vuln in r.vulnerabilities
select vuln.cveID
;
getED2603Attr(NistCve) =
foreach r in ED2603
foreach vuln in r.vulnerabilities
where matches(vuln.cveID, NistCve)
select {ED2603AttrId:vuln.cveID ,
ED2603AttrName:vuln.vulnerabilityName,
ED2603AttrAction:vuln.requiredAction,
ED2603AttrRansom: if vuln.knownRansomwareCampaignUse == "Known"
then true else false,
ED2603AttrNotes:vuln.notes,
ED2603AttrDue:vuln.dueDate,
ED2603AttrVendor:vuln.vendorProject,
ED2603AttrProd:vuln.product,
};
getImpactingCves(device) =
foreach cveFinding in device.cveFindings
where cveFinding.isVulnerable
select cveFinding;
getByBasis(impactingCves, basis) =
foreach cveFinding in impactingCves
where cveFinding.basis == basis
select cveFinding.cveId;
foreach device in network.devices
let impactingCves = getImpactingCves(device)
foreach deviceCVE in impactingCves
let ED2603Result = getED2603Attr(deviceCVE.cveId)
foreach i in ED2603Result
where matches(i.ED2603AttrId, deviceCVE.cveId)
select {
violation: true,
Device: device.name,
NistCVE: deviceCVE.cveId,
Basis: deviceCVE.basis,
ED2603Id: i.ED2603AttrId,
ED2603Name:i.ED2603AttrName,
Remedy: i.ED2603AttrAction,
KnownRansomWare: i.ED2603AttrRansom,
Notes: i.ED2603AttrNotes,
ED2603Vendor:i.ED2603AttrVendor,
ED2603Prod:i.ED2603AttrProd
}
Verifying Remediation
After patches and mitigation steps are applied, organizations must confirm that remediation actually resolved the risk.
Forward allows teams to validate that:
- vulnerable systems are no longer reachable from untrusted networks
- management interfaces are properly segmented
- remediation actions did not introduce unintended connectivity changes
Instead of relying on manual validation, engineers can continuously verify network security posture across the entire environment.
Final Thoughts
Emergency directives like ED-26-03 highlight how quickly vulnerabilities in network infrastructure can become active operational risks.
Organizations with continuous visibility into their network topology and behavior are better positioned to respond quickly—identifying affected systems, validating exposure, and confirming remediation with confidence.
