# CVE-2026-76441: Cisco Secure Email Gateway access control bypass

Source: https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-76441-cisco-secure-email-gateway-access-control-bypass  
Publisher: Junglewise Threat Intelligence, https://junglewise.ai/threats  
Published: 2026-09-14. Updated: 2026-09-26  
License: CC BY 4.0 with a link back

CVE-2026-76441 · Severity: critical · CVSS 9.8 · Published 2026-09-14

Cisco Secure Email Gateway and Secure Email and Web Manager are critical infrastructure appliances used to filter and manage email traffic for enterprises. Multiple improper access control vulnerabilities allow unauthenticated remote attackers to bypass authentication and authorization controls, potentially gaining full administrative access and compromising all email communications and data passing through these systems.

Technologies: [Cisco Secure Email and Web Manager](https://junglewise.ai/threats/technologies/secure-email-and-web-manager), [Cisco Secure Email Gateway](https://junglewise.ai/threats/technologies/secure-email-gateway). Vendors: [Cisco](https://junglewise.ai/threats/vendors/cisco).

## Quick answers

**Is CVE-2026-76441 exploited in the wild?** No. Junglewise Threat Intelligence has no report of CVE-2026-76441 being exploited in the wild.

**How severe is CVE-2026-76441?** Critical severity, with a CVSS score of 9.8, published 14 September 2026.

**Which products and versions are affected?** Cisco Secure Email and Web Manager 15.5 and earlier; 16.0; 16.5 before 16.5.0-429; Cisco Secure Email Gateway 15.5 and earlier; 16.0; 16.5 before 16.5.0-780.

**Is there a fix for CVE-2026-76441?** A patch was published on 2026-09-14: Fixed versions released: ESA 15.5.5-014, 16.5.0-780; EWMA 15.5.5-006, 16.5.0-429 Junglewise finds every place you run it, drafts the upgrade and applies it once you approve.

**How is CVE-2026-76441 attacked?** It is attacked over the network.

**Am I affected by CVE-2026-76441?** Check whether you run Cisco Secure Email and Web Manager or Cisco Secure Email Gateway at an affected version. Junglewise does that check for you around the clock: connect your code, cloud and domains, and it matches new vulnerabilities like this one against what you actually run and tells you when one reaches you.

## Technical details

CVE-2026-76441 covers improper access control vulnerabilities (CWE-284) grouped with other hardening issues including path traversal (CWE-23), improper resource control (CWE-664), and injection flaws (CWE-707). The vulnerabilities are network-reachable and require no authentication or user interaction, with a CVSS base score of 9.8 indicating potential for complete system compromise. Cisco has released patched versions (ESA 15.5.5-014 and 16.5.0-780; EWMA 15.5.5-006 and 16.5.0-429) following an internal security review that discovered these issues during testing. One related SQL injection vulnerability in this advisory is known to be actively exploited in the wild.

## Affected products

- Cisco Secure Email Gateway 15.5 and earlier; 16.0; 16.5 before 16.5.0-780
- Cisco Secure Email and Web Manager 15.5 and earlier; 16.0; 16.5 before 16.5.0-429

## Timeline

- 2026-09-14: disclosed: Cisco Security Advisory published
- 2026-09-14: patched: Fixed versions released: ESA 15.5.5-014, 16.5.0-780; EWMA 15.5.5-006, 16.5.0-429
- exploited: Related SQL injection vulnerability (CVE-2026-76443) in this advisory group known to be actively exploited

## References

- [https://sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-hardening-esa-dfCrfXkm](https://sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-hardening-esa-dfCrfXkm)
- [https://www.cve.org/Media/News/item/blog/2026/06/16/Preserving-Vulnerability-Level-Identification](https://www.cve.org/Media/News/item/blog/2026/06/16/Preserving-Vulnerability-Level-Identification)

## Related threats

- [Cisco Secure Email Gateway relative path traversal](https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-76519-cisco-secure-email-gateway-relative-path-traversal-vulnerability)
- [Cisco Secure Email Gateway SQL injection](https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-76461-cisco-secure-email-gateway-sql-injection)
- [Cisco Secure Email Gateway improper neutralization vulnerability](https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-76443-cisco-secure-email-gateway-improper-neutralization-vulnerability)
- [Cisco Secure Email Gateway improper input validation](https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-76442-cisco-secure-email-gateway-improper-input-validation)
- [Cisco Secure Email Gateway path traversal](https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-76440-cisco-secure-email-gateway-path-traversal)