Vulnerability Intelligence Report
Cisco IOS XR Software Security Hardening Release: September 2026
CVE-2026-20280
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.
No Active Exploit Signals
CVSS Base Score
8.8
HIGH
Exploitability:2.9
Impact Score:5.9
EPSS Probability:0.29%
Executive Threat Verdict
Evaluating...
Evaluating Threat Landscape...
Assessing known weaponization, exploitation telemetry, and federal advisories.
Attack Surface
—
Authentication
—
Weaponization
—
SSVC Action
—
Weaknesses (CWE)
CWE-703 ↗Improper Check or Handling of Exceptional Conditions
Affected Products & Versions
| Vendor | Product | Affected Versions |
|---|---|---|
| Cisco | Cisco IOS XR Software | 6.5.29 (affected), 7.0.1 (affected), 6.5.26 (affected), 6.5.25 (affected), 6.5.28 (affected), 6.5.90 (affected), 7.1.1 (affected), 7.0.90 (affected), 6.7.1 (affected), 7.0.2 (affected), 7.1.15 (affected), 7.2.1 (affected), 7.1.2 (affected), 6.7.2 (affected), 7.0.11 (affected), 7.0.12 (affected), 7.0.14 (affected), 7.1.25 (affected), 7.2.12 (affected), 7.3.1 (affected), 7.1.3 (affected), 6.7.3 (affected), 7.4.1 (affected), 7.2.2 (affected), 6.7.4 (affected), 6.5.31 (affected), 7.3.15 (affected), 7.3.16 (affected), 6.8.1 (affected), 7.4.15 (affected), 6.5.32 (affected), 7.3.2 (affected), 7.5.1 (affected), 7.4.16 (affected), 7.3.27 (affected), 7.6.1 (affected), 7.5.2 (affected), 7.8.1 (affected), 7.6.15 (affected), 7.5.12 (affected), 7.8.12 (affected), 7.3.3 (affected), 7.7.1 (affected), 6.8.2 (affected), 7.3.4 (affected), 7.4.2 (affected), 6.7.35 (affected), 6.9.1 (affected), 7.6.2 (affected), 7.5.3 (affected), 7.7.2 (affected), 6.9.2 (affected), 7.9.1 (affected), 7.10.1 (affected), 7.8.2 (affected), 7.5.4 (affected), 6.5.33 (affected), 7.8.22 (affected), 7.7.21 (affected), 7.9.2 (affected), 7.3.5 (affected), 7.5.5 (affected), 7.11.1 (affected), 7.9.21 (affected), 7.10.2 (affected), 24.1.1 (affected), 7.6.3 (affected), 7.3.6 (affected), 7.5.52 (affected), 7.11.2 (affected), 24.2.1 (affected), 24.1.2 (affected), 24.2.11 (affected), 24.3.1 (affected), 24.4.1 (affected), 24.2.2 (affected), 7.8.23 (affected), 7.11.21 (affected), 24.2.20 (affected), 24.3.2 (affected), 24.4.10 (affected), 6.5.35 (affected), 25.1.1 (affected), 24.4.2 (affected), 24.3.20 (affected), 24.4.15 (affected), 25.2.1 (affected), 6.5.351 (affected), 25.1.2 (affected), 24.3.30 (affected), 25.3.1 (affected), 6.5.352 (affected), 24.4.30 (affected), 24.2.21 (affected), 25.4.1 (affected), 25.2.2 (affected), 25.2.15 (affected), 7.2.0 (affected), 7.0.0 (affected), 25.2.30 (affected), 6.5.353 (affected), 26.1.1 (affected), 25.1.30 (affected), 25.3.15 (affected), 26.2.100 (affected), 25.4.2 (affected), 26.2.1 (affected), 25.4.30 (affected), 26.1.2 (affected), 25.4.201 (affected), 26.2.101 (affected), 25.2.21 (affected) |
References & Technical Advisories
No reference links found.
Threat Intelligence Signals
EPSS Score
0.286%
GitHub Advisory
Identity & Timeline
| Status | PUBLISHED |
| Assigning Authority | Cisco Systems, Inc. · Hosted Service · USA |
| Reserved | 2025-10-08T11:59:15 |
| Published | 2026-09-02T16:14:19 |
| Last Updated | 2026-09-18T12:10:36 |
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