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Cisco Secure Workload EUVDEUVD-2026-62570

| CVE-2026-20315 CRITICAL
Improper Access Control (CWE-284)
2026-08-19 cisco GHSA-gmcf-5grf-3p5g
10.0
CVSS 3.1 · Vendor: cisco
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Attack ChainAIDerived

Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain

  1. Access
    Reach Secure Workload network interface
  2. Delivery
    Send crafted request to privileged endpoint
  3. Exploit
    Bypass authorization check (CWE-284)
  4. Execution
    Gain unauthenticated privileged access
  5. Impact
    Read/alter segmentation policy and disrupt platform

Vulnerability Assessment

Weakness
CWE
OWASP Top 10:2025
A01:2025 - Broken Access Control
ASVS 5.0
V8 - Authorization Access control enforcement
MITRE ATT&CK

1 technique across 1 tactic: Defense Evasion

The technique list with ATT&CK links and the kill-chain view is part of the Basic plan and up.

Exploitation Conditions

The attacker requires network reachability to the affected Cisco Secure Workload interface (CVSS AV:N) and no credentials, no privileges, and no user interaction (PR:N/UI:N, AC:L), consistent with the vendor 'Authentication Bypass' tag - meaning against a reachable, unpatched instance no special product configuration is documented as required. The primary limiting factor is exposure: exploitation depends on the attacker being able to reach the management/API surface, so deployments that isolate that interface to a restricted administrative network materially reduce reachable attack surface. Note that Cisco's grouped hardening advisory does not publish the specific vulnerable endpoint or any 'only-when-configured' precondition, so beyond network reachability the exact triggering feature is not confirmed from available data.

Impact

The CVSS 3.1 vector (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H, score 10.0) describes the worst-case profile: network-reachable, low complexity, no privileges, no user interaction, with a scope change and total confidentiality, integrity, and availability impact - consistent with an authentication bypass on a security-enforcement platform. Against this, the exploitation-probability signals are muted: no EPSS score is provided, there is no CISA KEV listing, and no public POC exists, and the CVE originates from an internal Cisco security review rather than observed in-the-wild abuse, so widespread opportunistic exploitation is not currently indicated. The practical caveat is that Cisco's grouped 'hardening release' advisories bundle multiple internally discovered issues and typically omit granular technical detail, so the exact vulnerable endpoint and preconditions are not publicly specified - the maximal CVSS should be treated as vendor-assigned worst case pending advisory detail, but given the product's role in enforcing segmentation policy, a genuine unauthenticated bypass warrants priority patching.

Exploit ScenarioDerived

An attacker who can reach the Cisco Secure Workload management or API interface over the network sends crafted requests to a privileged endpoint that fails to enforce authorization, bypassing authentication entirely. Because the scope is changed and impact is total, the attacker could then read sensitive segmentation policy and workload inventory, alter or disable enforcement policy, and disrupt the platform. No public exploit code is currently available, so this remains a plausible-but-unproven scenario derived from the CVSS profile.

Act Now Prioritize within 24-48h. Why: CRITICAL severity.
No patch listed yet 0.3% exploitation probability (EPSS)

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AnalysisAIv1 – Aug 19, 2026

Authentication bypass in Cisco Secure Workload (formerly Tetration) lets a remote, unauthenticated attacker circumvent access-control checks and fully compromise the platform, reflected in a maximal CVSS 3.1 base score of 10.0 with a scope change. The flaw is one of multiple improper access-control weaknesses (CWE-284) fixed in a Cisco internal software-hardening release spanning affected builds from the 1.x line through 4.0.x. It was discovered internally by Cisco engineering; there is no public exploit identified at time of analysis and it is not listed in CISA KEV.

RemediationAI

Patch available per vendor advisory: upgrade Cisco Secure Workload to the software-hardening release referenced in cisco-sa-hardening-csw1-shSvndWP (https://sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-hardening-csw1-shSvndWP); the input does not specify an exact fixed version string, so verify the fixed build for your branch (1.x, 2.x, 3.x, or 4.0.x) directly in that advisory before scheduling the upgrade. No vendor workaround is enumerated in the available data, which is typical for access-control bypasses that require corrected authorization logic; as compensating controls pending upgrade, restrict network reachability of the Secure Workload management UI and API interfaces to trusted administrative networks or a jump host (ACLs, management-VLAN isolation, or VPN) and monitor authentication and admin-action logs for anomalous access - with the trade-off that network restriction does not remediate the underlying bypass and, if applied too broadly, may impede legitimate integrations or agent communication.

Affected VersionsENISA

Cisco Secure Workload 3.8.1.1
Cisco Secure Workload 3.5.1.17
Cisco Secure Workload 3.3.2.12
Cisco Secure Workload 3.8.1.39
Cisco Secure Workload 3.10.3.19
Cisco Secure Workload 3.1.1.59
Cisco Secure Workload 3.7.1.5
Cisco Secure Workload 3.4.1.6
Cisco Secure Workload 3.8.1.53
Cisco Secure Workload 4.0.3.13
Cisco Secure Workload 4.0.1.1
Cisco Secure Workload 3.1.1.70
Cisco Secure Workload 3.2.1.28
Cisco Secure Workload 2.2.1.39
Cisco Secure Workload 3.7.1.22
Cisco Secure Workload 2.3.1.51
Cisco Secure Workload 3.3.2.28
Cisco Secure Workload 3.3.2.23
Cisco Secure Workload 3.10.6.3
Cisco Secure Workload 3.9.1.25
Cisco Secure Workload 3.1.1.54
Cisco Secure Workload 3.3.2.33
Cisco Secure Workload 3.9.1.24
Cisco Secure Workload 3.6.1.52
Cisco Secure Workload 1.102.21
Cisco Secure Workload 3.7.1.51
Cisco Secure Workload 3.4.1.1
Cisco Secure Workload 2.1.1.29
Cisco Secure Workload 3.10.5.6
Cisco Secure Workload 3.2.1.32
Cisco Secure Workload 3.6.1.36
Cisco Secure Workload 3.9.1.52
Cisco Secure Workload 4.0.2.5
Cisco Secure Workload 3.3.2.53
Cisco Secure Workload 2.2.1.34
Cisco Secure Workload 3.1.1.65
Cisco Secure Workload 3.4.1.28
Cisco Secure Workload 3.6.1.17
Cisco Secure Workload 3.7.1.39
Cisco Secure Workload 3.10.4.8
Cisco Secure Workload 2.1.1.31
Cisco Secure Workload 2.3.1.45
Cisco Secure Workload 3.3.2.42
Cisco Secure Workload 3.3.2.16
Cisco Secure Workload 3.6.1.5
Cisco Secure Workload 4.0.3.17
Cisco Secure Workload 2.0.2.20
Cisco Secure Workload 3.8.1.19
Cisco Secure Workload 3.9.1.38
Cisco Secure Workload 3.8.1.36
Cisco Secure Workload 3.4.1.40
Cisco Secure Workload 3.3.2.50
Cisco Secure Workload 3.4.1.20
Cisco Secure Workload 2.3.1.49
Cisco Secure Workload 3.10.7.4
Cisco Secure Workload 3.4.1.34
Cisco Secure Workload 2.2.1.35
Cisco Secure Workload 2.3.1.41
Cisco Secure Workload 3.5.1.37
Cisco Secure Workload 3.4.1.14
Cisco Secure Workload 3.10.8.3
Cisco Secure Workload 3.5.1.23
Cisco Secure Workload 3.1.1.53
Cisco Secure Workload 3.9.1.1
Cisco Secure Workload 3.6.1.47
Cisco Secure Workload 3.5.1.31
Cisco Secure Workload 3.3.2.5
Cisco Secure Workload 2.1.1.33
Cisco Secure Workload 3.1.1.61
Cisco Secure Workload 2.0.1.34
Cisco Secure Workload 3.9.1.28
Cisco Secure Workload 3.9.1.10
Cisco Secure Workload 3.6.1.35
Cisco Secure Workload 3.2.1.33
Cisco Secure Workload 3.9.1.69
Cisco Secure Workload 3.5.1.1
Cisco Secure Workload 3.5.1.30
Cisco Secure Workload 3.9.1.66
Cisco Secure Workload 2.3.1.52
Cisco Secure Workload 3.5.1.2
Cisco Secure Workload 3.2.1.18
Cisco Secure Workload 3.1.1.67
Cisco Secure Workload 3.3.2.35
Cisco Secure Workload 3.4.1.19
Cisco Secure Workload 3.1.1.55
Cisco Secure Workload 1.103.1.12
Cisco Secure Workload 3.3.2.2
Cisco Secure Workload 3.10.1.1
Cisco Secure Workload 3.2.1.20
Cisco Secure Workload 3.6.1.21
Cisco Secure Workload 2.2.1.41
Cisco Secure Workload 3.7.1.59
Cisco Secure Workload 3.5.1.20
Cisco Secure Workload 2.3.1.50
Cisco Secure Workload 3.9.1.64
Cisco Secure Workload 3.2.1.31
Cisco Secure Workload 3.2.1.19
Cisco Secure Workload 3.4.1.35
Cisco Secure Workload 4.0.2.4
Cisco Secure Workload 2.3.1.53
Cisco Secure Workload 3.10.2.11

Affected Packages

euvd cisco_secure_workload no fix

Source: OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities)

Affects your stack

Affects 1 package in euvd

Checking this CVE against your own stacks and servers is part of the Basic plan and up.

Technical ContextAI · show details

Cisco Secure Workload is Cisco's data-center and cloud workload micro-segmentation and application-dependency-mapping platform (previously branded Tetration), deployed as an on-premises appliance cluster or SaaS offering that enforces zero-trust segmentation policy across workloads. The single affected CPE is cpe:2.3:a:cisco:cisco_secure_workload, spanning a very broad version set from 1.102.x/1.103.x and 2.0.x up through 3.x and 4.0.3.x. The root cause is CWE-284 (Improper Access Control): the software fails to properly enforce authorization on a network-reachable interface, and the vendor tag explicitly characterizes this as an Authentication Bypass, meaning the affected component does not correctly validate that a requester is authenticated/authorized before granting privileged functionality.

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Severity by source

Vendor (cisco) PRIMARY 10.0 CRITICAL
AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
vuln.today AI 10.0 CRITICAL

Vendor-tagged unauthenticated authentication bypass over the network with no user interaction gives AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N; compromise of a security-enforcement platform justifies S:C and full C/I/A impact.

3.1 AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
4.0 AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N

Primary rating from Vendor (cisco).

CVSS VectorVendor: cisco

Attack Vector
Network
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
None
User Interaction
None
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

DescriptionCVE.org

As part of Cisco's ongoing commitment to proactive security and product quality, the Cisco Secure Workload engineering team has conducted a comprehensive internal security review. This review resulted in a software hardening release that addresses multiple internally discovered vulnerabilities.

The vulnerabilities tracked by CVE-2026-20315 are related to improper access control issues that are grouped under the Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) CWE-284.

Executive ViewAI

Why It Matters

Cisco Secure Workload contains a critical authentication bypass vulnerability (CVSS 10.0) permitting unauthenticated remote attackers to fully compromise the platform, disabling threat detection and creating unobserved lateral movement pathways within the enterprise network. Organizations using Secure Workload for visibility and threat response face immediate operational risk and potential security blind spots. Urgent containment is required as no vendor patch is currently available.

Business Impact: Severe
Compensating Controls

No vendor-released patch identified at time of analysis. Interim mitigations: restrict network access to Secure Workload management interfaces via firewall rules and IP whitelisting; enforce VPN-only administrative access; deploy Web Application Firewall rules to block injection attacks; enable comprehensive audit logging of all console and API access; require multi-factor authentication at network perimeter; implement network segmentation isolating the platform from trusted corporate segments; monitor for behavioral anomalies indicating unauthorized access.

Threat Intelligence Overview

EPSS Score
0.3%
Top 75% exploitable
Prevalence
Medium
enterprise data-center segmentation platform, deployed but not ubiquitous
Data Quality
5 sources
Confidence: Medium

How this decision was reached

The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.

SignalValue
Severity CRITICAL
CISA KEV No
Public POC No
EPSS 0.3%
Patch available No
Active threat No
Deciding rule
CRITICAL severity
What every action level means
Emergency Immediate action required. Criteria: CRITICAL + in CISA KEV (actively exploited) without patch, OR CRITICAL + EPSS > 30% without patch, OR CRITICAL + active threat signals without patch.
Act Now Prioritize within 24-48h. Criteria: in KEV with patch available, OR CRITICAL + public POC, OR HIGH + EPSS > 10%, OR CRITICAL + active threat, OR any CRITICAL severity.
This Week Schedule remediation this week. Criteria: HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9). Patch within normal change window.
This Month Plan within 30 days. Criteria: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9), lower exploitation probability. Include in regular patch cycle.
Monitor Track and reassess. Criteria: LOW severity (CVSS 0.1-3.9), minimal exploitation risk. No immediate action needed.

SSVC AssessmentENISA

SSVC Decision
Out-of-Cycle
Exploitation
None
System Exposure· derived
Open
Automatable
Yes
Human Impact
Very High
Technical Impact
Total

Priority Score

50
Low Medium High Critical
KEV: 0
EPSS: 0
CVSS: +50
PoC: 0
Weaponized: 0
Threat intel: 0
Gov advisory: 0

Attack Technique

Authentication bypass attacks exploit flaws in the verification mechanisms that control access to systems and applications.

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