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2026-04-01 · critical
Cisco IMC: authentication bypass in password change (CVE-2026-20093)
Authentication bypass in the Cisco IMC password change, giving administrative access without credentials, CVSS 9.8.
The record for CVE-2026-20093, published on 1 April 2026 and updated in October, concerns the password change function of Cisco Integrated Management Controller (IMC). According to NVD, a remote unauthenticated attacker can get past login with a crafted HTTP request and reset the password of any account, including administrators.
The CVSS v3.1 score is 9.8. The cause is mishandled password-change requests (CWE-20). IMC is the management interface of Cisco servers, so the risk is administrative access to the physical server.
Apply the fix described in the Cisco advisory. In the meantime, isolate the IMC interface from the internet and untrusted networks, and review administrative accounts.
At a glance
- What
- A remote unauthenticated attacker can get past login and gain administrative access by resetting the passwords of any account.
- Severity
- CVSS v3.1 9.8 (critical), according to NVD.
- Cause
- Mishandled password-change requests (CWE-20).
- Action
- Apply the fix in Cisco advisory cisco-sa-cimc-auth-bypass. Isolate the IMC interface from untrusted networks.
Sources: NVD, CVE-2026-20093 · Cisco PSIRT, cisco-sa-cimc-auth-bypass