Multiple vulnerabilities in Cisco IOS XR Software (CVE-2026-20040, CVE-2026-20046) allow an authenticated local attacker to escalate privileges to root or gain full administrative control of the device. Cisco has released software updates to address these high-severity vulnerabilities and a workaround is available for one of them.
Multiple vulnerabilities in Cisco IOS XR Software could allow an authenticated, local attacker to execute commands as root on an underlying operating system or gain full administrative control of an affected device. For more information about these vulnerabilities, see the Details section of this advisory. Cisco has released software updates that address these vulnerabilities. A workaround is available for one of the vulnerabilities. This advisory is available at the following link: https://sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-iosxr-privesc-bF8D5U4W This advisory is part of the March 2026 release of the Cisco IOS XR Software Security Advisory Bundled Publication. For a complete list of the advisories and links to them, see Cisco Event Response: March 2026 Semiannual Cisco IOS XR Software Security Advisory Bundled Publication . <br/>Security Impact Rating: High <br/>CVE: CVE-2026-20040,CVE-2026-20046