Critical severity · published Jan 21, 2026
CVE-2026-20045
Cisco Unified Communications Products Remote Code Execution Vulnerability
In wildKEV
9.8
CVSS
4.5%
EPSS
Yes
On KEV
Description
A vulnerability in Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Unified CM), Cisco Unified Communications Manager Session Management Edition (Unified CM SME), Cisco Unified Communications Manager IM & Presence Service (Unified CM IM&P), Cisco Unity Connection, and Cisco Webex Calling Dedicated Instance could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to execute arbitrary commands on the underlying operating system of an affected device.
This vulnerability is due to improper validation of user-supplied input in HTTP requests. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a sequence of crafted HTTP requests to the web-based management interface of an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to obtain user-level access to the underlying operating system and then elevate privileges to root.
Note: Cisco has assigned this security advisory a Security Impact Rating (SIR) of Critical rather than High as the score indicates. The reason is that exploitation of this vulnerability could result in an attacker elevating privileges to root.
CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High
Scope
Unchanged
Exploitation
Is it being used?
Exploit prediction (EPSS)4.5% · higher than 92% of CVEs
Exploited in the wildYes
CISA KEVListed Jan 21, 2026
Federal remediation dueFeb 11, 2026
Ransomware campaign useNot known
Affected products
Which versions
CU
Cisco Unified Communications Manager · Cisco
12.5(1)SU2; 12.5(1)SU1; 12.5(1); 12.5(1)SU3; 12.5(1)SU4; 14; +25 more · source: vendor
CU
Cisco Unified Communications Manager IM and Presence Service · Cisco
12.5(1); 12.5(1)SU1; 12.5(1)SU2; 12.5(1)SU3; 12.5(1)SU4; 14; +14 more · source: vendor
CU
Cisco Unity Connection · Cisco
12.5(1); 12.5(1)SU1; 12.5(1)SU2; 12.5(1)SU3; 12.5(1)SU4; 14; +15 more · source: vendor
UC
Unified Communications Manager · Cisco
12.5 before 14su5; 12.5 before 14su5; 15.0 through 15su3a; 15.0 through 15su3a · source: NVD, KEV
UC
Unified Communications Manager IM And Presence Service · Cisco
12.5 before 14su5; 15.0 through 15su3a · source: NVD
UC
Unity Connection · Cisco
12.5 before 14su5; 15.0 through 15su3 · source: NVD
Affected product
CU
Cisco Unified Communications Manager
Cisco
References
NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-20045
CVE.org
https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-20045
CISA KEV catalogue
https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog
sec.cloudapps.cisco.com
https://sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-voice-rce-mORhqY4b
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