High severity · published Mar 11, 2026
CVE-2026-20074
Cisco IOS XR Software Multi-Instance Intermediate System-to-Intermediate System Denial of Service Vulnerability
7.4
CVSS
0.2%
EPSS
No
On KEV
Description
A vulnerability in the Intermediate System-to-Intermediate System (IS-IS) multi-instance routing feature of Cisco IOS XR Software could allow an unauthenticated, adjacent attacker to cause the IS-IS process to restart unexpectedly.
This vulnerability is due to insufficient input validation of ingress IS-IS packets. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending crafted IS-IS packets to an affected device after forming an adjacency. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause the IS-IS process to restart unexpectedly, resulting in a temporary loss of connectivity to advertised networks and a denial of service (DoS) condition.
Note: The IS-IS protocol is a routing protocol. To exploit this vulnerability, an attacker must be Layer 2-adjacent to the affected device and must have formed an adjacency.
CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H
Attack vector
Adjacent
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High
Scope
Changed
Exploitation
Is it being used?
Exploit prediction (EPSS)0.2% · higher than 6% of CVEs
Exploited in the wildNo evidence yet
CISA KEVNot listed
Ransomware campaign useNot known
Affected products
Which versions
CI
Cisco IOS XR Software · Cisco
7.8.1; 7.9.1; 7.10.1; 7.8.2; 7.8.22; 7.9.2; +26 more · source: vendor
IX
Ios XR · Cisco
7.8.0 before 25.2.2; 25.3.0 · source: NVD
References
NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-20074
CVE.org
https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-20074
Mitigation
https://sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-isis-dos-kDMxpSzK
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Cisco IOS XR Software Security Hardening Release: September 2026
