CVE-2026-20044
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedA vulnerability in the lockdown mechanism of Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center (FMC) Software could allow an authenticated, local attacker to perform arbitrary commands as root. This vulnerability is due to insufficient restrictions on remediation modules while in lockdown mode. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending crafted input to the system CLI of the affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to run arbitrary commands or code as root, even when the system is in lockdown mode. To exploit this vulnerability, the attacker must have valid administrative credentials.
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · moderate confidenceThe vulnerability in Cisco Secure FMC allows an authenticated administrator to bypass lockdown mode restrictions and execute arbitrary commands as root through the system CLI. This occurs because remediation modules have insufficient access controls that remain exploitable even when the device is in lockdown mode.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- High
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Confirm Cisco Secure FMC is runningRun 'show version' or 'sw-version' in the CLI to identify the system and software versionAffected if The system is not Cisco Secure FMC (different product)
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Check if lockdown mode is configuredRun 'show lockdown' or 'show running-config | include lockdown' in the system CLI to see if lockdown mode is enabledAffected if Lockdown mode is not enabled (the bypass targets this specific mode)
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Verify the installed FMC versionRun 'show version' in the CLI or check the FMC web interface under System > About to retrieve the exact software version numberAffected if The installed version is not known to have the patch applied (compare your version against Cisco's advisory for this CVE)
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Identify configured remediation modulesRun 'show remediation' or check the FMC web interface under Policies > Remediation to list any enabled remediation modulesAffected if Remediation modules are present and the device is in lockdown mode (these modules have insufficient access controls in this state)
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Review administrator account accessCheck User accounts in the FMC web interface under System > Users > Users or run 'show user' in the CLI to identify administrator-level accountsAffected if Multiple administrator accounts exist with CLI access privileges (an authenticated administrator can exploit this vulnerability)
The environment is affected if this is a Cisco Secure FMC device with lockdown mode enabled, unpatched software version, and at least one administrator account with CLI access.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
From vendor dataApply the Cisco security patch for this vulnerability when available. In the interim, limit administrative access to only trusted personnel and monitor CLI command usage for suspicious activity.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $4,448.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2026-20044 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2026-20044 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data