{"id":190655,"date":"2026-02-25T17:06:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-25T22:06:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/25\/cisa-gives-agencies-until-friday-to-patch-critical-cyber-bug\/"},"modified":"2026-02-25T18:05:21","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T23:05:21","slug":"cisa-gives-agencies-until-friday-to-patch-critical-cyber-bug","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/25\/cisa-gives-agencies-until-friday-to-patch-critical-cyber-bug\/","title":{"rendered":"CISA gives agencies until Friday to patch critical cyber bug"},"content":{"rendered":"

CISA gives agencies until Friday to patch critical cyber bug<\/a><\/p>\n

https:\/\/federalnewsnetwork.com\/cybersecurity\/2026\/02\/cisa-gives-agencies-until-friday-to-patch-critical-cyber-bug\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Publish Date: 2026-02-25 17:06:00<\/a><\/p>\n

Source Domain: federalnewsnetwork.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Author: <\/a><\/p>\n

Using an unordered list, summarize the following article with between 4 and 8 key points. <\/p>\n

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency is directing agencies to quickly address critical vulnerabilities in some Cisco networking systems.
\nIn an emergency directive issued today, CISA told federal agencies to inventory Cisco Software-Defined Wide-Area Networking (SD-WAN) systems, apply updates and evaluate whether any compromises have occurred.
\nThe directive comes as hackers target SD-WAN systems across the world. The vulnerability affects Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Controller and Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Manager. In an advisory, Cisco said the vulnerability \u201ccould allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to bypass authentication and obtain administrative privileges on an affected system.\u201d
\nCISA is directing agencies to patch those systems by 5 p.m. on Feb. 27.]]><\/p>\n

Nick Andersen, CISA\u2019s executive assistant director for cybersecurity, said \u201cforensic analysis\u201d demonstrated that the \u201cease of exploiting these vulnerabilities requires immediate action from all federal agencies.\u201d
\n\u201cThe threat actors are seeking to gain unauthorized access to potentially compromise federal networks,\u201d Andersen said during a call with reporters Wednesday. \u201cOur focus right now is share timely guidance, mitigate the risk and ensure that our federal partners have the information they need to defend against the activity.\u201d
\nSD-WAN software allows organizations to share data and applications across disparate offices, remote workstations and other authorized devices, within both physical and cloud-based infrastructure. The use of such networking devices has increased in recent years.
\n\u201cThe ability to orchestrate environments virtually, to interconnect offices and data centers and compute environments is one that is certainly picked up in popularity in recent years, and SD-WANs are a big part of what we know to be deployed, not just within federal civilian executive branch agencies, but more broadly across industry,\u201d Andersen said.
\nCISA\u2019s directive includes several deadlines for federal agencies beyond the Feb. 27 patch deadline.
\nBy Feb. 26, agencies are required to identify any potentially affected Cisco SD-WAN systems and provide the inventory to CISA. Agencies are also required by Feb. 26 to ensure all SD-WAN systems are configured to store logs externally and collect forensic artifacts.
\nCISA additionally provided agencies with supplemental \u201chunt\u201d and \u201chardening\u201d guidance for the SD-WAN systems.]]><\/p>\n

Meanwhile, agencies have been directed to send CISA a \u201cdetailed inventory\u201d of any affected systems, the steps they have taken to apply updates and hunt for a potential compromise by March 5.
\nAnd by March 12, CISA wants a report on actions agencies have taken to harden their networks from the Cisco vulnerabilities.
\nCISA is coordinating the guidance as it also navigates a lapse in appropriations for the entire Department of Homeland Security. During the shutdown, roughly one-third of CISA\u2019s 2,341 employees are continuing to work without pay, while the rest have been furloughed.
\nAndersen said that shutdown disruptions \u201ccreate uncertainty, strain our workforce and give adversaries unnecessary advantages, forcing frontline cybersecurity experts to perform critical work without pay.\u201d
\nMeanwhile, the SD-WAN vulnerability continues a trend of adversaries targeting so-called \u201cedge devices,\u201d as they sit at the boundary of an organization\u2019s network and route network traffic.
\nCISA and other cyber agencies have increasingly sounded the alarm about hackers targeting vulnerabilities in edge devices to gain a foothold and further exploit sensitive networks. Earlier this month, CISA directed federal agencies to identify and upgrade any unsupported edge devices on their networks.
\n\u201cWe\u2019re continuing to see adversary movement target edge devices, which is why I think we\u2019ve both had emergency directives related to edge devices, as well as binding operational directives focused on that,\u201d Andersen said. \u201cOur efforts continue to minimize the available attack surface for the cyber actors to be able to take advantage of.\u201d
\n Copyright
\n \u00a9\u00a02026 Federal News Network. All rights reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.<\/p>\n

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