Vulnerability · Published Mar 11, 2026 · Assigned by cisco
CVE-2026-20040Cisco IOS XR Software CLI Privilege Escalation Vulnerability
High 8.8
In plain English
A high-severity OS command injection in Cisco IOS XR Software from Cisco. There are no confirmed reports of exploitation so far. The chance it is exploited in the next 30 days is estimated at 0.2% (higher than 9% of all known vulnerabilities).
Official description
A vulnerability in the CLI of Cisco IOS XR Software could allow an authenticated, local attacker to execute arbitrary commands as root on the underlying operating system of an affected device. This vulnerability is due to insufficient validation of user arguments that are passed to specific CLI commands. An attacker with a low-privileged account could exploit this vulnerability by using crafted commands at the prompt. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to elevate privileges to root and execute arbitrary commands on the underlying operating system.
Affected products (as reported)
| Vendor | Product | Versions |
|---|---|---|
| Cisco | Cisco IOS XR Software | 6.5.36.5.296.5.16.6.16.5.26.5.926.5.156.6.2 |
Weakness: CWE-78 · Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H