Monitor vulnerabilities like this one.
Sign up free to get alerted when software you use is affected.
8.8
Cisco IOS XR Software Allows Local Attackers to Escalate Privileges
CVE-2026-20040
Summary
A security issue in Cisco IOS XR Software allows an attacker with a low-privileged account to potentially gain full control of the device by exploiting a weakness in the command line interface. This could allow the attacker to make unauthorized changes to the device. Affected users should update their software to the latest version to prevent exploitation.
Original title
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.
T...
Original 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.
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.
nvd CVSS3.1
8.8
Vulnerability type
CWE-78
OS Command Injection
Published: 11 Mar 2026 · Updated: 13 Mar 2026 · First seen: 11 Mar 2026