CVE-2026-20040 HIGH

CVE-2026-20040: Cisco IOS XR Software CLI Privilege Escalation Vulnerability

Vendor Cisco
Product Cisco IOS XR Software
Weakness CWE-78
Published March 11, 2026
Last update March 12, 2026

CVSS base score

8.8/10
Attack vector Local
Attack complexity Low
Privileges required Low
User interaction None
Confidentiality High
Integrity High

CVSS vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H

What the vulnerability does

01Description

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.

Key dates

02Disclosure timeline

March 11, 2026 CVE published
March 12, 2026 Record updated