Detect Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Manager Path Traversal Exploitation in Google Chronicle
Detects exploitation attempts targeting CVE-2026-20262, a path traversal vulnerability (CWE-22) in Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Manager. Active exploitation has been confirmed by CISA KEV. Attackers can traverse directory boundaries via crafted HTTP requests to access sensitive files outside the web root, potentially exposing credentials, configuration data, or enabling further compromise of the SD-WAN management plane.
MITRE ATT&CK
YARA-L Detection Query
rule cisco_sdwan_path_traversal_cve_2026_20262 {
meta:
author = "df00tech"
description = "Detects path traversal exploitation of CVE-2026-20262 in Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Manager"
severity = "CRITICAL"
priority = "HIGH"
reference = "https://sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-sdwan-arbfw-c2rZvQ"
events:
$e.metadata.event_type = "NETWORK_HTTP"
$e.network.http.request_url = /\.\.[\/\\]|\.\.[%][2][fF]|[%]2[eE][%]2[eE][%]2[fF]/ nocase
$e.network.http.request_url = /\/dataservice\/|\/management\/|\/template\/|\/config\// nocase
$ip = $e.principal.ip
match:
$ip over 10m
outcome:
$event_count = count_distinct($e.metadata.id)
$targeted_urls = array_distinct($e.network.http.request_url)
$response_codes = array_distinct($e.network.http.response_code)
condition:
#e >= 1
}Chronicle YARA-L 2.0 rule detecting HTTP requests to Cisco SD-WAN Manager containing path traversal sequences, matching on URL-encoded and raw traversal patterns against API endpoint paths.
Data Sources
Required Tables
False Positives & Tuning
- Chronicle ingestion pipelines that decode URLs before normalization, creating apparent traversal patterns in stored events
- Authorized red team engagements targeting SD-WAN infrastructure
- SD-WAN Manager's own internal health check API calls that generate paths matching the traversal pattern
Other platforms for CVE-2026-20262
Testing Methodology
Validate this detection against 4 adversary techniques from Atomic Red Team. Each test below lists the behaviour to exercise and the telemetry you should expect to see. Executable commands and cleanup steps are available with Pro.
- Test 1Basic Path Traversal File Read via SD-WAN Manager API
Expected signal: Web server access log entry with URI containing '../../../../etc/passwd', HTTP response code 200 or 400/403 depending on patch status, source IP of test host
- Test 2URL-Encoded Path Traversal Against SD-WAN Template API
Expected signal: Access log entry with raw URI containing %2e%2e%2f sequences targeting /template/ endpoint, HTTP response code logged by web server before or after URL normalization
- Test 3Double-Encoded Traversal Bypass Attempt
Expected signal: Access log entry with double-encoded URI; if the server double-decodes the URL, a subsequent audit log event showing /etc/passwd file access at the OS level
- Test 4Traversal to SD-WAN Configuration File for Credential Harvesting
Expected signal: Multiple HTTP requests in quick succession with traversal sequences targeting vmanage configuration paths; response sizes indicating file content if successful
References (4)
- https://sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-sdwan-arbfw-c2rZvQ
- https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/directives/bod-26-04-prioritizing-security-updates-based-risk
- https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/directives/bod-26-04-implementation-guidance-prioritizing-security-updates-based-risk
- https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-20262
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