Privilege escalation on Cisco IOS XR could grant full admin access to core network devices; Cisco IOS XR is widely deployed in service providers and large networks.
CVE-2026-20046
Local privilege escalation in Cisco IOS XR via task-group command mapping.
Is CVE-2026-20046 being exploited?
Not confirmed. CVE-2026-20046 does not appear in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, which records only exploitation that has been observed and reported publicly. That is evidence of absence of a report, not evidence the flaw is unattacked. EPSS currently estimates a 0.14% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.
How severe is CVE-2026-20046?
CVE-2026-20046 is rated High with a CVSS score of 8.8. Severity describes how bad exploitation would be, not how likely it is: pair it with exploitation evidence before deciding what to patch first.
Is there a patch for CVE-2026-20046?
Yes. A fix has been recorded for CVE-2026-20046. The vendor advisory is the authority on the exact fixed version — apply it from there rather than from a summary.
What does CVE-2026-20046 affect?
CVE-2026-20046 affects Cisco IOS XR Software. Confirm the exact affected versions against the vendor advisory before deciding you are exposed.
What should I do about CVE-2026-20046?
Patch when released; restrict privileged CLI access, monitor activity.
Exploitation status reflects CISA's KEV catalog as we last synced it. Check the catalog directly.
Authenticated local attacker can bypass task-group checks and gain full admin control of the device.
Patch when possible
- affected6.6.1
- affected6.5.3
- affected7.0.1
- affected6.5.1
- affected6.5.2
- affected6.6.2
- affected6.6.25
- affected7.1.1
- affected7.0.90
- affected6.6.3
- affected7.0.2
- affected7.1.2
- affected7.2.1
- affected6.6.4
- affected7.3.1
- affected7.4.1
- affected7.2.2
- affected7.3.2
- affected7.5.1
- affected7.6.1
- affected7.5.2
- affected7.3.4
- affected7.3.3
- affected7.4.2
- affected7.7.1
- affected7.6.2
- affected7.8.1
- affected7.7.2
- affected7.9.1
- affected7.8.2
- affected7.5.4
- affected7.8.22
- affected7.10.1
- affected7.7.21
- affected7.9.2
- affected7.5.5
- affected7.11.1
- affected7.10.2
- affected7.3.6
- affected24.1.1
- affected7.11.2
- affected24.2.1
- affected24.1.2
- affected24.3.1
- affected24.4.1
- affected24.2.2
- affected7.11.21
- affected24.2.20
- affected24.3.2
- affected24.4.2
- affected25.1.1
- affected24.3.20
- affected25.2.1
- affected25.1.2
- affected24.3.30
- affected24.2.21
- affected25.1.30
As published in the CVE Program record. A version outside these ranges is not a statement that it is unaffected — vendors sometimes understate a range, and distribution-backported builds carry upstream numbers that do not reflect what was patched into them.