Cyber Resilience

CVE-2026-20333

Published
16 September 2026
Modified
18 September 2026
CVSS Score v3.1 8.8
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.0032 25th percentile
Risk Priority 63 floored blend · peak EPSS

CVSS and EPSS are reproduced from their sources (NVD, FIRST EPSS). Risk Priority is our own derived reading, not an NVD score.

Summary

CVE-2026-20333 is a high-severity Incorrect Comparison (CWE-697) vulnerability in Cisco Secure Adaptive (inferred from references). Its CVSS base score is 8.8 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Obfuscated Files or Information (T1027); ranked at the 25th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to AC-25 (Reference Monitor) and SA-11 (Developer Testing and Evaluation) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

As part of Cisco's ongoing commitment to proactive security and product quality, the Cisco Secure Adaptive Security Appliance Software, Cisco Secure Firewall Threat Defense Software and Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center Software engineering team has conducted a comprehensive internal security…

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review. This review resulted in a software hardening release that addresses multiple internally discovered vulnerabilities. The vulnerabilities tracked by CVE-2026-20333 are related to incorrect comparison conditions that are grouped under the Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) Pillar CWE-697.

CWE(s)
CWE-697

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1027 Obfuscated Files or Information Stealth
Adversaries may attempt to make an executable or file difficult to discover or analyze by encrypting, encoding, or otherwise obfuscating its contents on the system or in transit.
attack.mitre.org →
T1068 Exploitation for Privilege Escalation Privilege Escalation
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to elevate privileges.
attack.mitre.org →
T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Access
Adversaries may attempt to exploit a weakness in an Internet-facing host or system to initially access a network.
attack.mitre.org →
T1203 Exploitation for Client Execution Execution
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in client applications to execute code.
attack.mitre.org →
T1212 Exploitation for Credential Access Credential Access
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to collect credentials.
attack.mitre.org →
T1548 Abuse Elevation Control Mechanism Privilege Escalation
Adversaries may circumvent mechanisms designed to control privilege elevation to gain higher-level permissions.
attack.mitre.org →
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2020-8864Shared CWE-697
CVE-2026-14686Shared CWE-697
CVE-2023-32571Shared CWE-697
CVE-2026-10097Shared CWE-697
CVE-2024-41958Shared CWE-697
CVE-2026-34574Shared CWE-697
CVE-2026-48032Shared CWE-697
CVE-2025-12192Shared CWE-697
CVE-2023-46009Shared CWE-697
CVE-2023-40271Shared CWE-697

Affected Assets

Cisco
Secure Adaptive
inferred from references and description; NVD did not file a CPE for this CVE

Mitigating Controls

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

AC-25 Reference Monitor partial match

A reference monitor must be small and correct, structurally limiting the chance of flawed comparison logic in authorization decisions.

SA-11 Developer Testing and Evaluation partial match

Developer testing and evaluation directly exercises security-relevant comparisons to discover incorrect logic.

SA-8 Security and Privacy Engineering Principles partial match

Security engineering principles require correct implementation of comparison logic used for access and authentication decisions.

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.PS-06 partial match
prevents

Secure development practices directly require correct logic for security comparisons and thereby prevent this class of flaw.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

A.8.25 Secure development life cycle partial match
prevents

Secure development lifecycle includes code review and testing that can catch incorrect comparison logic.

A.8.26 Application security requirements partial match
prevents

Application security requirements can mandate correct comparison logic for security decisions.

A.8.27 Secure system architecture and engineering principles partial match
prevents

Secure architecture principles can require robust comparison mechanisms for access decisions.

A.8.28 Secure coding partial match
prevents

Secure coding standards directly address avoiding incorrect comparison operators and logic.

A.8.29 Security testing in development and acceptance partial match
finds

Security testing can detect incorrect comparison flaws before deployment.

A.8.5 Secure authentication partial match
degrades

Secure authentication mechanisms rely on correct comparison of credentials or tokens.

References