Cisco Smart Software Manager On-Prem Arbitrary Command Execution Vulnerability

criticalCVE-2026-20160

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. Cisco has released software updates that address this vulnerability. There are no workarounds that address this vulnerability. This advisory is available at the following link: https://sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-ssm-cli-execution-cHUcWuNr Security Impact Rating: Critical CVE: CVE-2026-20160

CSIRTS triage

vendor: Cisco product: Smart Software Manager On-Prem Remote code execution

What: A vulnerability allows an unauthenticated attacker to execute arbitrary commands on the underlying operating system.
Who is affected: Deployments of Cisco Smart Software Manager On-Prem that expose the vulnerable API.
Urgency: Remediation is urgent due to the critical nature of the vulnerability and the potential for full system compromise.
Action: Apply the software updates released by Cisco to address this vulnerability.

AI-assisted analysis generated from the source advisory — verify against the original.

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Details

Source: Cisco Security Advisories (INTL · vendor-psirt · site)
Severity: critical
Published: 2026-04-01
Exploitation: Not in CISA KEV at last sync

Original advisory: https://sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-ssm-cli-execution-cHUcWuNr?vs_f=Cisco%20Security%20Advisory%26vs_cat=Security%20Intelligence%26vs_type=RSS%26vs_p=Cisco%20Smart%20Software%20Manager%20On-Prem%20Arbitrary%20Command%20Execution%20Vulnerability%26vs_k=1

Exploitation outlook

EPSS (FIRST.org) estimates each CVE’s probability of exploitation in the next 30 days — here is the CSIRTS.com read on those numbers.

Low exploitation riskCVE-2026-201600.91% 30-day exploitation probability — currently an unlikely target, but scores change as exploit code circulates. Riskier than 56% of all scored CVEs.

Referenced CVEs

CVE	CSIRTS overview	External
CVE-2026-20160	coverage & exploitation status	NVD · CVE.org

Recent advisories for Cisco Smart Software

A cluster of recent advisories against the same product widens the attack surface — attackers routinely chain freshly published CVEs on one product, so review these together.

highCisco Smart Software Manager On-Prem Privilege Escalation Vulnerabilitycisco-psirt · 2026-04-01
criticalexploitedCVE-2018-0156: Cisco IOS Software and Cisco IOS XE Software Smart Install Denial-of-Service Vulnerabilitycisa-kev · 2022-03-03
criticalexploitedCVE-2018-0171: Cisco IOS and IOS XE Software Smart Install Remote Code Execution Vulnerabilitycisa-kev · 2021-11-03