CVE intelligence and bounded remediation
CVE-2026-20042 — Cisco Nexus Dashboard security vulnerability
A vulnerability in the configuration backup feature of Cisco Nexus Dashboard could allow an attacker who has the encryption password and access to Full or Config-only backup files to access sensitive information. This vulnerability exists because authentication details are included in the encrypted backup files. An attacker with a valid backup file and encryption password from an affected device could decrypt the backup file. The attacker could then use the authentication details in the backup file to access internal-only APIs on the affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary commands on the underlying operating system as the root user.
- Severity
- Medium
- CVSS
- 6.5 (3.1)
- Published
- 2026-04-01
- CISA KEV
- Not currently listed
- Ecosystem
- software/application
- Weaknesses
- CWE-295
Affected products
- cisco / nexus_dashboard
Matched remediation archetype
Cryptography, certificate, signature, and channel validation
This catalog composition supplies bounded fallback guidance. Explicitly reviewed curated workflows load with the complete record below.
Check exposure
- Inventory affected algorithms, key uses, trust stores, certificate validation settings, random sources, and plaintext channels across clients and services.
- Determine which secrets, identities, signatures, or data protections depend on the affected primitive or validation path.
- Check debug, compatibility, fallback, and hostname or audience override settings in build and runtime configuration.
Remediate safely
- Use a maintained platform cryptographic API with approved algorithms, modes, parameters, randomness, and full peer identity validation.
- Remove insecure fallback and validation bypasses; separate keys by purpose and load them from managed secret storage.
- Plan rotation or reissuance for affected keys, certificates, tokens, hashes, or ciphertext and document compatibility sequencing.
Authoritative sources
Complete CVE record and remediation plan
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