Cisco Unified Computing System Web-based Management Interface code injection

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability was found in Cisco Unified Computing System and Unified Computing System E-Series Software. It has been classified as very critical. The affected element is an unknown function of the component Web-based Management Interface. This manipulation causes code injection. This vulnerability appears as CVE-2026-20288. The attack may be initiated remotely. There is no available exploit.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability has been found in Cisco Unified Computing System and Unified Computing System E-Series Software (unknown version) and classified as very critical. Affected by this vulnerability is an unknown code block of the component Web-based Management Interface. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a code injection vulnerability. The CWE definition for the vulnerability is CWE-94. The product constructs all or part of a code segment using externally-influenced input from an upstream component, but it does not neutralize or incorrectly neutralizes special elements that could modify the syntax or behavior of the intended code segment. As an impact it is known to affect confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The summary by CVE is:

A vulnerability in the web-based management interface of Cisco IMC could allow an authenticated, remote attacker with Admin privileges to execute arbitrary commands on the underlying operating system of an affected system and elevate privileges to root.  This vulnerability is due to improper validation of user-supplied input. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by entering crafted inputs to the web-based management interface of the affected software. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary commands on the underlying operating system as the root user.  Cisco has assigned this vulnerability a SIR of High rather than Medium as the score indicates because additional security implications could occur when the attacker becomes root.

The advisory is shared at sec.cloudapps.cisco.com. This vulnerability is known as CVE-2026-20288 since 10/08/2025. The exploitation appears to be easy. The attack can be launched remotely. Additional levels of successful authentication are necessary for exploitation. Neither technical details nor an exploit are publicly available. The price for an exploit might be around USD $5k-$25k at the moment (estimation calculated on 08/05/2026). MITRE ATT&CK project uses the attack technique T1059 for this issue.

There is no information about possible countermeasures known. It may be suggested to replace the affected object with an alternative product.

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Productinfo

Type

• Virtualization Software

Vendor

• Cisco

Name

• Unified Computing System
• Unified Computing System E-Series Software

License

• commercial

Website

• Vendor: https://www.cisco.com/

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