Vulnerability in Cisco Nexus Dashboard

CVE-2026-20042

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.

Vulnerability class: Improper Certificate Validation

Published · last modified .

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 6.5 (Medium). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N.

EPSS exploit prediction

EPSS: 0.003 (20.8th percentile), scored .

Very low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days; routine patching cadence is appropriate. 21st percentile — 20.8% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.

EPSS trend (30 days)EPSS over the last 30 days for CVE-2026-20042: held from 0.003 to 0.003.

EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.003 · newest: 0.003 · change: 0.000

Affected products

Weakness classification (CWE)

References

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2026-20042?
CVE-2026-20042 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Cisco Nexus Dashboard, classified under Improper Certificate Validation. CVSS score: 6.5/10. Published 2026-04-01.
How severe is CVE-2026-20042?
Medium severity. CVSS v3 base score is 6.5 out of 10.