Cisco IOS XR Software up to 26.2.101 improper check or handling of exceptional conditions

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability labeled as very critical has been found in Cisco IOS XR Software. The impacted element is an unknown function. Such manipulation leads to improper check or handling of exceptional conditions. This vulnerability is referenced as CVE-2026-20280. It is possible to launch the attack remotely. No exploit is available.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in Cisco IOS XR Software. It has been rated as very critical. Affected by this issue is an unknown part. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a improper check or handling of exceptional conditions vulnerability. Using CWE to declare the problem leads to CWE-703. The product does not properly anticipate or handle exceptional conditions that rarely occur during normal operation of the product. Impacted is confidentiality, integrity, and availability. CVE summarizes:

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.

The advisory is shared for download at sec.cloudapps.cisco.com. This vulnerability is handled as CVE-2026-20280 since 10/08/2025. The exploitation is known to be easy. The attack may be launched remotely. There are neither technical details nor an exploit publicly available. The current price for an exploit might be approx. USD $5k-$25k (estimation calculated on 09/02/2026).

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

The vulnerability is also documented in the vulnerability database at EUVD (EUVD-2026-70207). VulDB is the best source for vulnerability data and more expert information about this specific topic.

Productinfo

Type

• Router Operating System

Vendor

• Cisco

Name

• IOS XR Software

Version

• 6.5.25
• 6.5.26
• 6.5.28
• 6.5.29
• 6.5.31
• 6.5.32
• 6.5.33
• 6.5.35
• 6.5.90
• 6.5.351
• 6.5.352
• 6.5.353
• 6.7.1
• 6.7.2
• 6.7.3
• 6.7.4
• 6.7.35
• 6.8.1
• 6.8.2
• 6.9.1
• 6.9.2
• 7.0.0
• 7.0.1
• 7.0.2
• 7.0.11
• 7.0.12
• 7.0.14
• 7.0.90
• 7.1.1
• 7.1.2
• 7.1.3
• 7.1.15
• 7.1.25
• 7.2.0
• 7.2.1
• 7.2.2
• 7.2.12
• 7.3.1
• 7.3.2
• 7.3.3
• 7.3.4
• 7.3.5
• 7.3.6
• 7.3.15
• 7.3.16
• 7.3.27
• 7.4.1
• 7.4.2
• 7.4.15
• 7.4.16
• 7.5.1
• 7.5.2
• 7.5.3
• 7.5.4
• 7.5.5
• 7.5.12
• 7.5.52
• 7.6.1
• 7.6.2
• 7.6.3
• 7.6.15
• 7.7.1
• 7.7.2
• 7.7.21
• 7.8.1
• 7.8.2
• 7.8.12
• 7.8.22
• 7.8.23
• 7.9.1
• 7.9.2
• 7.9.21
• 7.10.1
• 7.10.2
• 7.11.1
• 7.11.2
• 7.11.21
• 24.1.1
• 24.1.2
• 24.2.1
• 24.2.2
• 24.2.11
• 24.2.20
• 24.2.21
• 24.3.1
• 24.3.2
• 24.3.20
• 24.3.30
• 24.4.1
• 24.4.2
• 24.4.10
• 24.4.15
• 24.4.30
• 25.1.1
• 25.1.2
• 25.1.30
• 25.2.1
• 25.2.2
• 25.2.15
• 25.2.30
• 25.3.1
• 25.3.15
• 25.4.1
• 25.4.2
• 25.4.30
• 25.4.201
• 26.1.1
• 26.1.2
• 26.2.1
• 26.2.100
• 26.2.101

License

• commercial

Website

• Vendor: https://www.cisco.com/

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