Federal networks exposed in Cisco flaw

Nextgov/FCW reports that the U.S. and allied cyber agencies have warned of a significant campaign exploiting flaws in Cisco WAN equipment, exposing federal and global networks.The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, alongside the National Security Agency and Five Eyes partners, said attackers are leveraging two vulnerabilities affecting Cisco SD-WAN devices, including one that can grant root-level access. Cisco Systems identified the actor as UAT-8616, describing it as highly sophisticated, and confirmed exploitation dating back to at least 2023. Authorities stopped short of assigning nation-state blame but said the risk to federal systems is “unacceptable” and requires urgent mitigation.The UK’s National Cyber Security Centre echoed concerns, citing global targeting of Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN deployments. Agencies urged organizations to inventory affected hardware, retain logs, apply patches, and hunt for compromise indicators. The alert adds to mounting scrutiny of…