A critical security vulnerability in Cisco networking equipment has been actively exploited by hackers since 2023, the U.S. government revealed today in an urgent security advisory. The newly disclosed bug affects enterprise networking gear deployed across major organizations worldwide, with federal authorities and international allies urging immediate patching. The revelation that attackers have had years to compromise corporate networks raises serious questions about the scope of potential breaches.
Cisco is racing to contain fallout from a critical security flaw that hackers have been quietly exploiting for more than two years. The U.S. government dropped the bombshell today, revealing that threat actors have been leveraging the newly identified vulnerability in Cisco networking equipment to break into enterprise networks since 2023.
The disclosure comes from a joint advisory issued by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency alongside international allies, marking the vulnerability as actively exploited in the wild. For security teams, it's a nightmare scenario - discovering that attackers may have already compromised their networks using a bug that remained undetected for years.
Cisco networking gear forms the backbone of corporate infrastructure at thousands of organizations globally. The company dominates the enterprise networking market, with its routers, switches, and security appliances managing critical data flows for Fortune 500 companies, government agencies, and service providers. A vulnerability of this magnitude potentially exposes sensitive corporate communications, customer data, and intellectual property across countless networks.
The timing of the disclosure is particularly striking. While Cisco only recently identified and classified the bug, hackers have been exploiting it since at least 2023 according to government sources. That two-year window gave attackers ample opportunity to establish persistent access, steal data, and move laterally through compromised networks - all while defenders remained unaware of the threat vector.
CISA didn't mince words in its guidance, urging organizations to patch immediately. The agency's involvement signals the severity of potential compromises, particularly for critical infrastructure operators and government contractors who rely heavily on Cisco equipment. Federal authorities typically reserve such urgent public advisories for vulnerabilities that pose significant national security risks.
