CVE-2026-20046
Published: 11 March 2026
Summary
CVE-2026-20046 is a high-severity an unspecified weakness vulnerability in Cisco IOS XR (inferred from references). Its CVSS base score is 8.8 (High).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Privilege Escalation (T1068); ranked at the 3.9th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
The strongest mitigations our analysis identified are NIST 800-53 AC-3 (Access Enforcement) and SI-2 (Flaw Remediation).
Deeper analysis
CVE-2026-20046 is a privilege escalation vulnerability in the task group assignment for a specific CLI command within Cisco IOS XR Software. The issue arises from incorrect mapping of the command to task groups in the source code, which allows bypass of task group-based authorization checks. Published on 2026-03-11, it has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 8.8 (AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H) and is associated with CWE-264: Permissions, Privileges, and Access Controls.
An authenticated local attacker possessing a low-privileged account can exploit this vulnerability by executing the affected CLI command. Successful exploitation enables the attacker to elevate privileges and obtain full administrative control of the device, allowing them to perform unauthorized actions without further checks.
The Cisco Security Advisory provides details on mitigation and patch information: https://sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-iosxr-privesc-bF8D5U4W.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2026-11216
Vulnerability details
A vulnerability in task group assignment for a specific CLI command in Cisco IOS XR Software could allow an authenticated, local attacker to elevate privileges and gain full administrative control of an affected device. This vulnerability is due to incorrect…
more
mapping of a command to task groups within the source code. An attacker with a low-privileged account could exploit this vulnerability by using the CLI command to bypass the task group–based checks. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to elevate privileges and perform actions on an affected device without authorization checks.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI
Why these techniques?
Direct local privilege escalation via CLI command that bypasses task-group authorization controls on network device.
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Requires timely identification, reporting, and patching of the software flaw causing incorrect CLI command-to-task-group mapping, directly preventing privilege escalation.
Mandates enforcement of approved authorizations for access to system resources, directly countering the bypass of task group-based checks for the affected CLI command.
Enforces least privilege to restrict low-privileged accounts from executing commands that could lead to escalation, limiting the attack surface for this vulnerability.