# CVE-2026-73778 — Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) AOS-CX

> As of 2026-09-03, CVE-2026-73778 is a HIGH-severity vulnerability in Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) AOS-CX, CVSS v3.1 8.1, EPSS 0.5% (41.2th percentile). Threadlinqs Intelligence links 1 tracked threat campaign to CVE-2026-73778, most recently “HPE Patches Critical ArubaOS-CX Buffer Overflow (CVE-2026-73749) Enabling Unauthenticated Remote Code Execution”.

**Last updated:** 2026-09-03

## What is CVE-2026-73778?

A vulnerability exists in the Credential Manager component that may allow for unauthorized administrative access. An unauthenticated remote attacker could exploit this vulnerability on a device in its factory-default or post-ZTP state before any administrator has configured credentials by providing a predictable factory-default password. Successful exploitation could result in full administrative control of the affected device during the initial setup process.

The record classifies CVE-2026-73778 under weakness class [CWE-521](https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/521.html). Its CVSS v3 base vector states that the flaw is reachable remotely over the network, needs no prior authentication, needs no user interaction, and has high impact on confidentiality, integrity, availability. 1 affected-product entry is recorded, across 1 vendor, listed below. The identifier was first published 54 days ago.

## Severity and exploitation probability

- **CVSS v3.1 base score:** 8.1 — HIGH (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **EPSS (FIRST):** 0.5% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 41.2% of all scored CVEs
- **CISA KEV:** Not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog
- **Threadlinqs priority:** 5.7/10 — a Threadlinqs composite of the CVSS base score, the EPSS percentile and public exploit availability
- **Published:** 2026-09-01, last modified 2026-09-03

## Is CVE-2026-73778 being exploited?

It currently carries a trending score of 36 in the Threadlinqs vulnerability feed.

## Affected products and versions

- [Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE)](https://intel.threadlinqs.com/vendors/hewlett-packard-enterprise-hpe): AOS-CX

## How to fix CVE-2026-73778

The record marks a vendor fix as available for CVE-2026-73778. Patch reference: [https://support.hpe.com/hpesc/public/docDisplay?docId=hpesbnw05134en_us&docLocale=en_US](https://support.hpe.com/hpesc/public/docDisplay?docId=hpesbnw05134en_us&docLocale=en_US). Vendor advisory: [https://support.hpe.com/hpesc/public/docDisplay?docId=hpesbnw05134en_us&docLocale=en_US](https://support.hpe.com/hpesc/public/docDisplay?docId=hpesbnw05134en_us&docLocale=en_US). Apply the vendor fix referenced above to every affected product listed in this record, then confirm the running version against the vendor advisory.

## Threat activity tracking CVE-2026-73778

1 tracked threat in the Threadlinqs corpus references CVE-2026-73778, either in the campaign’s CVE list or as an indicator on the campaign record.

- [HPE Patches Critical ArubaOS-CX Buffer Overflow (CVE-2026-73749) Enabling Unauthenticated Remote Code Execution](https://intel.threadlinqs.com/threat/TL-2026-2314) — CRITICAL · 2026-09-03

## Sources

Enriched from CVE.org, NVD, FIRST EPSS, GitHub Security Advisories. Last verified by Threadlinqs on 2026-10-10. This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD.

**Other references**

- [support.hpe.com](https://support.hpe.com/hpesc/public/docDisplay?docId=hpesbnw05134en_us&docLocale=en_US)

Canonical: https://intel.threadlinqs.com/cve/CVE-2026-73778
Full detection coverage and IOCs for threats exploiting CVE-2026-73778 via the Threadlinqs MCP server (Purple tier): https://intel.threadlinqs.com/mcp