Cisco Smart Software Manager On-Prem 9-202502/9-202504/9-202507/9-202510 API exposure of resource

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability marked as very critical has been reported in Cisco Smart Software Manager On-Prem 9-202502/9-202504/9-202507/9-202510. This impacts an unknown function of the component API. This manipulation causes exposure of resource. This vulnerability is registered as CVE-2026-20160. Remote exploitation of the attack is possible. No exploit is available. It is suggested to upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Cisco Smart Software Manager On-Prem 9-202502/9-202504/9-202507/9-202510. It has been declared as very critical. Affected by this vulnerability is an unknown code of the component API. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a exposure of resource vulnerability. The CWE definition for the vulnerability is CWE-668. The product exposes a resource to the wrong control sphere, providing unintended actors with inappropriate access to the resource. As an impact it is known to affect confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The summary by CVE is:

A vulnerability in Cisco Smart Software Manager On-Prem (SSM On-Prem) could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to execute arbitrary commands on the underlying operating system of an affected SSM On-Prem host. This vulnerability is due to the unintentional exposure of an internal service. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a crafted request to the API of the exposed service. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute commands on the underlying operating system with root-level privileges.

It is possible to read the advisory at sec.cloudapps.cisco.com. This vulnerability is known as CVE-2026-20160 since 10/08/2025. The exploitation appears to be easy. The attack can be launched remotely. The exploitation doesn't need any form of authentication. The technical details are unknown and an exploit is not publicly available. The pricing for an exploit might be around USD $0-$5k at the moment (estimation calculated on 07/02/2026).

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 307357 (Cisco Smart Software Manager On-Prem Arbitrary Command Execution (cisco-sa-ssm-cli-execution-cHUcWuNr)), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading eliminates this vulnerability.

The vulnerability is also documented in the vulnerability database at Tenable (307357). Statistical analysis made it clear that VulDB provides the best quality for vulnerability data.

Productinfo

Vendor

• Cisco

Name

• Smart Software Manager On-Prem

Version

• 9-202502
• 9-202504
• 9-202507
• 9-202510

License

• commercial

Website

• Vendor: https://www.cisco.com/

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Statistical analysis made it clear that VulDB provides the best quality for vulnerability data.

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