Severity by source
AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
Unauthenticated crafted HTTP request (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N) yields read-only file disclosure within one container, so C:H with I:N/A:N and S:U.
Primary rating from Vendor (cisco).
CVSS VectorVendor: cisco
Lifecycle Timeline
2DescriptionCVE.org
A vulnerability in Cisco Catalyst Center could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to read arbitrary files from a restricted container.
This vulnerability is due to insufficient validation of user-supplied input. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a crafted HTTP request to an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to read arbitrary files from a restricted container of the affected device.
AnalysisAI
Arbitrary file read in Cisco Catalyst Center lets an unauthenticated, remote attacker retrieve files from a restricted container by sending a crafted HTTP request that abuses insufficient input validation (path traversal, CWE-22). Rated CVSS 7.5 (confidentiality-only impact), it exposes sensitive container-side data without any credentials or user interaction. No public exploit identified at time of analysis, and it is not listed in CISA KEV.
Technical ContextAI
Cisco Catalyst Center (formerly DNA Center) is Cisco's centralized network management and automation appliance for Catalyst campus and enterprise fabric environments, exposing web/HTTP management services that are internally decomposed into containerized microservices. The root cause is CWE-22 (Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory / path traversal): the application fails to sufficiently validate user-supplied input used to resolve a file path, so traversal sequences let a request escape the intended directory and read files elsewhere within a restricted container. Because the impact is scoped to a single container (Scope:Unchanged in the CVSS vector), disclosure is bounded to that container's filesystem rather than the full host.
RemediationAI
Consult the Cisco Security Advisory (https://sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-catc-file-read-wLH2vf8X) and upgrade to the fixed Catalyst Center release Cisco specifies; no exact fixed version was included in the provided data, so pull the precise build directly from that advisory - Patch available per vendor advisory. As compensating controls until patched, restrict network reachability of the Catalyst Center management/HTTP interfaces to a dedicated management VLAN or jump-host subnet and block untrusted access to the web service (the vulnerability is AV:N/PR:N, so limiting who can send HTTP requests directly reduces exposure), and place the appliance behind a WAF or reverse proxy configured to reject path-traversal sequences (dot-dot-slash and encoded variants) in request paths - with the trade-off that WAF filtering is a partial, bypassable control and does not replace the vendor fix. Because impact is read-only within a restricted container, also rotate any secrets or credentials that may have been stored in reachable container files if compromise is suspected.
Same weakness CWE-22 – Path Traversal
View allSame technique Path Traversal
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External POC / Exploit Code
Leaving vuln.today
EUVD-2026-41078
GHSA-46p9-p299-pr9p