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Outbyte Driver Updater FREEScan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Outbyte PC Repair FREEClear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →To audit Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Manager access, establish the release and identity source, inventory users, compare each role and scope with the person’s duties, review available audit events, and check active Manager and device sessions separately. The menu labels and controls can vary by release, so confirm the installed version before following these steps; Cisco’s role-based access guide for releases 26.x and later was updated September 28, 2026.
1. Establish the audit scope and evidence window
Start by recording the Manager release, cluster or tenant under review, dates covered, and the system that supplies user identities and roles. In a SAML single sign-on setup, the identity provider may define roles; local assignment may be available when the provider supplies none. Identify which system is authoritative before treating a role shown in Manager as the complete access record. See Cisco’s Role-Based Access Control Overview.
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Set the period based on the records actually available in the deployment and any configured export or archive. Cisco’s cited guidance does not establish a universal audit-log retention period, so do not assume a fixed number of days is available in the Manager interface.
2. Inventory users and account ownership
In Cisco’s documented workflow, open Administration > Users and Access > Users to review or manage users. The user record includes full name, username, roles, and scope; remote users can also be indicated. Record the account’s owner or business purpose, status, authentication source, assigned roles and scope, and the reason access is still needed. See Cisco’s Configure Users.
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Reconcile the list against current staff, contractors, service identities, and approved integrations. Follow up on accounts with no accountable owner or current purpose rather than assuming that an unfamiliar username is automatically unauthorized.
3. Compare roles and scope with actual duties
Cisco defines role-based access control as authorization or restriction based on a user’s role and scope. A role controls permitted actions across features or APIs; scope limits the objects—such as sites, devices, or templates—on which a user can act. Write access requires both a role that permits the action and a scope or locale that includes the resource. Cisco’s RBAC documentation describes this model.
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Compare each assignment with the person’s approved responsibilities, not just the role name. The built-in roles have materially different purposes:
| Role | Documented access distinction | Audit consideration |
|---|---|---|
| operator | Intended for viewing information; the predefined role does not access running or local configurations. | Check whether view-only access fits the user’s duties and whether access to configuration information is required. |
| netadmin | Non-configurable role that permits all operations; by default it includes the admin user, and other users can be added. | Examine every assignment closely against a documented need for broad administrative access. |
| network_operations | Can perform non-security-policy operations and view security-policy information; examples include template configuration and non-security policies. | Check that responsibilities do not improperly cross into security-policy changes. |
| security_operations | Can perform security operations and view non-security-policy information. Cisco describes a deployment/removal handoff with network_operations for some security-policy work. | Confirm the division of duties and any required handoff for the organization’s workflow. |
Defaults and customizations matter: verify effective permissions in the deployed release instead of inferring them from a familiar role name. Cisco says the basic role is prebuilt and cannot be modified or deleted; its guidance recommends copying a basic role to create a customer role and creating a custom role with selected features when only a subset of administrator privileges is needed.
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4. Review recent audit-log activity
Open the audit-log view available in the deployed release and examine events within the period you established. Cisco says enhanced audit logging beginning with Catalyst SD-WAN Manager Release 20.12.1 captures high login frequency and failed login attempts. Review these signals alongside unexplained account, role, scope, policy, or configuration changes, and activity that does not fit the account’s expected work. Cisco’s Alarms, Events, and Logs guide covers the purpose and signals of audit logging.
A Cisco integration guide describes the audit-log page as Monitor > Logs > Audit logs, with Action, Details, Date/Time, and User columns. Treat that path and those fields as release-sensitive: confirm them in the target Manager before using them as click-by-click instructions. The documented purpose is to support traceability, co-management, and governance.
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5. Check active sessions in both places
A Manager web session and a login to a managed device are different records, so check each separately:
- Manager HTTP sessions: Cisco documents Administration > Manage Users > User Sessions as the view for active sessions, including username, domain, and source IP address.
- Managed-device SSH/AAA users: open Monitor > Devices, select the hostname, choose Real Time, then Device Options > AAA users.
These paths are documented in Cisco’s user-management guide. Confirm labels against the installed release.
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6. Investigate anomalies and document follow-up
- Preserve relevant event details and timestamps, and identify the account and source context.
- Compare the activity with approved change records, scheduled maintenance, and the user’s assigned responsibilities.
- Ask the account owner or identity-management team to confirm context before attributing intent.
- For stale access or justified overprivilege, use the organization’s approved process to narrow role or scope, lock the account, or remove it. Record the decision and any authorization.
- After account changes, check sessions separately. Cisco notes that deleting a user does not log that user out if already logged in.
Cisco documents editing, administrative locking, and deletion in its Configure Users procedure. A change to an account record and termination of an existing session are not the same action.
7. Keep the procedure release-aware
Cisco’s release history shows that granular role, scope, and policy controls have evolved across releases, including changes introduced or expanded in 20.13.1 and earlier releases. Record the Manager version with the audit and validate interface steps and effective controls against documentation for that release. Cisco’s RBAC overview applies to releases 26.x and later and was updated September 28, 2026.
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