--- id: CVE-2026-20280 title: >- As part of Cisco's ongoing commitment to proactive security and product quality, the Cisco IOS XR Software engineering team has conducted a comprehensive internal security review summary: >- As part of Cisco's ongoing commitment to proactive security and product quality, the Cisco IOS XR Software engineering team has conducted a comprehensive internal security review. This review resulted in a software hardening release… severity: high cvss: 8.8 cvssVector: 'CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H' cwe: - CWE-703 vendor: cisco product: ios_xr affected: - ios_xr = 6.5.25 - ios_xr = 6.5.26 - ios_xr = 6.5.28 - ios_xr = 6.5.29 - ios_xr = 6.5.31 - ios_xr = 6.5.32 - ios_xr = 6.5.33 - ios_xr = 6.5.35 - ios_xr = 6.5.90 - ios_xr = 6.5.351 - ios_xr = 6.5.352 - ios_xr = 6.5.353 - ios_xr = 6.7.1 - ios_xr = 6.7.2 - ios_xr = 6.7.3 - ios_xr = 6.7.4 - ios_xr = 6.7.35 - ios_xr = 6.8.1 - ios_xr = 6.8.2 - ios_xr = 6.9.1 - ios_xr = 6.9.2 - ios_xr = 7.0.0 - ios_xr = 7.0.1 - ios_xr = 7.0.2 - ios_xr = 7.0.11 - ios_xr = 7.0.12 - ios_xr = 7.0.14 - ios_xr = 7.0.90 - ios_xr = 7.1.1 - ios_xr = 7.1.2 - ios_xr = 7.1.3 - ios_xr = 7.1.15 - ios_xr = 7.1.25 - ios_xr = 7.2.0 - ios_xr = 7.2.1 - ios_xr = 7.2.2 - ios_xr = 7.2.12 - ios_xr = 7.3.1 - ios_xr = 7.3.2 - ios_xr = 7.3.3 - ios_xr = 7.3.4 - ios_xr = 7.3.5 - ios_xr = 7.3.6 - ios_xr = 7.3.15 - ios_xr = 7.3.16 - ios_xr = 7.3.27 - ios_xr = 7.4.1 - ios_xr = 7.4.2 - ios_xr = 7.4.15 - ios_xr = 7.4.16 - ios_xr = 7.5.1 - ios_xr = 7.5.2 - ios_xr = 7.5.3 - ios_xr = 7.5.4 - ios_xr = 7.5.5 - ios_xr = 7.5.12 - ios_xr = 7.5.52 - ios_xr = 7.6.1 - ios_xr = 7.6.2 - ios_xr = 7.6.3 - ios_xr = 7.6.15 - ios_xr = 7.7.1 - ios_xr = 7.7.2 - ios_xr = 7.7.21 - ios_xr = 7.8.1 - ios_xr = 7.8.2 - ios_xr = 7.8.12 - ios_xr = 7.8.22 - ios_xr = 7.8.23 - ios_xr = 7.9.1 - ios_xr = 7.9.2 - ios_xr = 7.9.21 - ios_xr = 7.10.1 - ios_xr = 7.10.2 - ios_xr = 7.11.1 - ios_xr = 7.11.2 - ios_xr = 7.11.21 - ios_xr = 24.1.1 - ios_xr = 24.1.2 - ios_xr = 24.2.1 - ios_xr = 24.2.2 - ios_xr = 24.2.11 - ios_xr = 24.2.20 - ios_xr = 24.2.21 - ios_xr = 24.3.1 - ios_xr = 24.3.2 - ios_xr = 24.3.20 - ios_xr = 24.3.30 - ios_xr = 24.4.1 - ios_xr = 24.4.2 - ios_xr = 24.4.10 - ios_xr = 24.4.15 - ios_xr = 24.4.30 - ios_xr = 25.1.1 - ios_xr = 25.1.2 - ios_xr = 25.1.30 - ios_xr = 25.2.1 - ios_xr = 25.2.2 - ios_xr = 25.2.15 - ios_xr = 25.2.30 published: '2026-09-02' updated: '2026-09-18' sourceUpdated: '2026-09-18T13:17:29.017' source: NVD sourceUrl: 'https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-20280' references: - url: >- https://sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-hardening-iosxr-qg64NcM label: psirt@cisco.com - url: >- https://www.cve.org/Media/News/item/blog/2026/06/16/Preserving-Vulnerability-Level-Identification label: af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 - url: 'https://software.cisco.com' tags: - nvd - cve.org - csaf - vendor-advisory - cisco epss: 0.00292 epssPercentile: 0.22078 ssvc: exploitation: none automatable: 'no' technicalImpact: total timestamp: '2026-09-02T00:00:00+00:00' ingestedAt: '2026-09-12T16:30:05.305Z' --- ## Overview As part of Cisco's ongoing commitment to proactive security and product quality, the Cisco IOS XR Software engineering team has conducted a comprehensive internal security review. This review resulted in a software hardening releases that address multiple internally discovered vulnerabilities. The vulnerabilities tracked by CVE-2026-20280 are related to improper checking or handling of exceptional condition issues that are grouped under the Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) CWE-703. ## Affected - `ios_xr = 6.5.25` - `ios_xr = 6.5.26` - `ios_xr = 6.5.28` - `ios_xr = 6.5.29` - `ios_xr = 6.5.31` - `ios_xr = 6.5.32` - `ios_xr = 6.5.33` - `ios_xr = 6.5.35` - `ios_xr = 6.5.90` - `ios_xr = 6.5.351` - `ios_xr = 6.5.352` - `ios_xr = 6.5.353` - `ios_xr = 6.7.1` - `ios_xr = 6.7.2` - `ios_xr = 6.7.3` - `ios_xr = 6.7.4` - `ios_xr = 6.7.35` - `ios_xr = 6.8.1` - `ios_xr = 6.8.2` - `ios_xr = 6.9.1` - `ios_xr = 6.9.2` - `ios_xr = 7.0.0` - `ios_xr = 7.0.1` - `ios_xr = 7.0.2` - `ios_xr = 7.0.11` - `ios_xr = 7.0.12` - `ios_xr = 7.0.14` - `ios_xr = 7.0.90` - `ios_xr = 7.1.1` - `ios_xr = 7.1.2` - `ios_xr = 7.1.3` - `ios_xr = 7.1.15` - `ios_xr = 7.1.25` - `ios_xr = 7.2.0` - `ios_xr = 7.2.1` - `ios_xr = 7.2.2` - `ios_xr = 7.2.12` - `ios_xr = 7.3.1` - `ios_xr = 7.3.2` - `ios_xr = 7.3.3` - `ios_xr = 7.3.4` - `ios_xr = 7.3.5` - `ios_xr = 7.3.6` - `ios_xr = 7.3.15` - `ios_xr = 7.3.16` - `ios_xr = 7.3.27` - `ios_xr = 7.4.1` - `ios_xr = 7.4.2` - `ios_xr = 7.4.15` - `ios_xr = 7.4.16` - `ios_xr = 7.5.1` - `ios_xr = 7.5.2` - `ios_xr = 7.5.3` - `ios_xr = 7.5.4` - `ios_xr = 7.5.5` - `ios_xr = 7.5.12` - `ios_xr = 7.5.52` - `ios_xr = 7.6.1` - `ios_xr = 7.6.2` - `ios_xr = 7.6.3` - `ios_xr = 7.6.15` - `ios_xr = 7.7.1` - `ios_xr = 7.7.2` - `ios_xr = 7.7.21` - `ios_xr = 7.8.1` - `ios_xr = 7.8.2` - `ios_xr = 7.8.12` - `ios_xr = 7.8.22` - `ios_xr = 7.8.23` - `ios_xr = 7.9.1` - `ios_xr = 7.9.2` - `ios_xr = 7.9.21` - `ios_xr = 7.10.1` - `ios_xr = 7.10.2` - `ios_xr = 7.11.1` - `ios_xr = 7.11.2` - `ios_xr = 7.11.21` - `ios_xr = 24.1.1` - `ios_xr = 24.1.2` - `ios_xr = 24.2.1` - `ios_xr = 24.2.2` - `ios_xr = 24.2.11` - `ios_xr = 24.2.20` - `ios_xr = 24.2.21` - `ios_xr = 24.3.1` - `ios_xr = 24.3.2` - `ios_xr = 24.3.20` - `ios_xr = 24.3.30` - `ios_xr = 24.4.1` - `ios_xr = 24.4.2` - `ios_xr = 24.4.10` - `ios_xr = 24.4.15` - `ios_xr = 24.4.30` - `ios_xr = 25.1.1` - `ios_xr = 25.1.2` - `ios_xr = 25.1.30` - `ios_xr = 25.2.1` - `ios_xr = 25.2.2` - `ios_xr = 25.2.15` - `ios_xr = 25.2.30` ## Remediation Refer to the linked advisories for vendor-supplied fixes and affected version ranges. ## Vendor advisories - **cisco-sa-hardening-iosxr-qg64NcM** · Cisco · affected: Cisco IOS XR Software (259 versions) · updated 2026-09-17 · [advisory](https://sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-hardening-iosxr-qg64NcM)