Medium

CVE-2026-20118 — Cisco IOS-XR NCS 5500 and NCS 5700 Egress Packet Network Interfaces Aligner Interrupt Denial of Service Vulnerability

A vulnerability in the handling of an Egress Packet Network Interface (EPNI) Aligner interrupt in Cisco IOS XR Software for Cisco Network Convergence System (NCS) 5500 Series with NC57 line cards and Cisco NCS 5700 Routers and Cisco IOS XR Software for Third Party Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to cause the network processing unit (NPU) and ASIC to stop processing, preventing traffic from traversing the interface. This vulnerability is due to the corruption of packets in specific cases when an EPNI Aligner interrupt is triggered while an affected device is experiencing heavy transit traffic. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a continuous flow of crafted packets to an interface of the affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause persistent, heavy packet loss, resulting in a denial of service (DoS) condition. Note: If active exploitation of this vulnerability is suspected, contact the Cisco Technical Assistance Center (TAC) or your contracted maintenance provider. Cisco has assigned this security advisory a Security Impact Rating (SIR) of High rather than Medium as the score indicates. This change was made because the affected device operates within a critical network segment where compromise could lead to significant disruption or exposure, thereby elevating the overall risk beyond the base technical severity.

Published Mar 11, 2026 · Updated Oct 13, 2026 · Sources: NIST National Vulnerability Database, CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP · CNA: cisco

Low

Who exploits it and how urgent it is

A 0–100 score combining confirmed exploitation, ransomware and APT use, public exploits, EPSS and severity.

No exploitation signal in the sources consulted so far.

How the score was calculated

EPSS 0.3% (30-day exploitation probability)+4
Technical severity (medium)+3

The score orders the patch queue; it does not replace your asset context (internet exposure, criticality, compensating controls).

Triage

Is it exploited, how likely is exploitation, what does it touch, and how severe do the sources call it.

Exploitation

Not confirmed

Not in CISA KEV — an absence of record, not proof it is unexploited.

EPSS FIRST

0.33%

ahead of 25% of scored CVEs · Oct 14, 2026

Affects

Cisco

Cisco IOS XR Software

CVSS base

6.8

Medium · 2 source(s)

CISA SSVC assessment CISA

Three decision points CISA publishes for the CVEs it assesses (SSVC 2.0.3). A stakeholder decision, not a severity score.

Exploitation

None

none · proof-of-concept · active

Automatable

can an attacker script the kill-chain steps

Technical impact

Partial

partial · total control of the vulnerable component

Remediation

Fixes and mitigations documented by the sources — linked to the original advisory.

No fix documented by the sources we poll. That does not mean none exists: check the vendor advisory.

First 24 hours

Ordered from the record’s own fields — exposure first, because you cannot patch what you have not found. A rule-generated starting point.

Identify exposed assets running the affected vendor/product/version combinations (Cisco Cisco IOS XR Software).
The attack is network-based and needs no privileges: restrict exposure (ACLs, VPN, WAF) until patched.
No fix documented in the sources: reduce exposure and monitor the vendor advisory.
Search available logs for exploit probes, errors and authentication anomalies.

Affected scope

Vendor, product and versions as the sources word them.

Vendor	Product	Versions	Status	Source
Cisco	Cisco IOS XR Software	version 24.2.11version 24.2.21version 24.4.30version 24.3.30version 25.1.2version 24.4.2version 24.3.20version 25.1.1 and 15 more version 24.3.2version 24.2.20version 7.11.21version 24.2.2version 7.9.1version 24.4.1version 24.3.1version 24.1.2version 24.2.1version 7.11.2version 24.1.1version 7.10.2version 7.11.1version 7.9.2version 7.10.1	Vulnerable	CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP

Attack characteristics

The CVSS vector, decoded. It describes the attack, not your exposure to it.

Attack vector

Network

Attack complexity

High

Privileges required

None

User interaction

None

Scope

Changed

Confidentiality

None

Integrity

None

Availability

High

Every base score collected

Sources score independently and may disagree; each row says who scored it and under which version.

Score	Version	Severity	Expl.	Impact	Scored by
6.8	CVSS 3.1	Medium	2.2	4.0	psirt@cisco.com via NIST National Vulnerability Database
6.8	CVSS 3.1	Medium	—	—	cisco via CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H (score shown at the top: psirt@cisco.com)

Weakness MITRE

Weakness class according to MITRE’s CWE catalog.

CWE-460

Other CVEs with this weakness →

EPSS over time FIRST

Oct 13, 2026 → Oct 14, 2026 · 2 reading(s) · max 0.33%

Detection

Read off the CVSS vector and the weakness class. Starting points, not tested rules.

Prioritize edge telemetry for the network-reachable component (proxy, WAF, IDS/IPS).

web/proxy/WAF logsnetwork IDS/IPS

Timeline

What happened to this CVE, newest first.

2026
Affected products added · cisco/cisco ios xr software
Oct 13, 2026 · CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
SSVC assessment updated
Oct 13, 2026 · CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
Record published
Oct 13, 2026
CVSS changed · 6.8
Oct 13, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
Source status changed · → Awaiting Analysis
Oct 13, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
Record created in this database
Oct 13, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
CVE published
Mar 11, 2026 · cisco

Source activity

Repeated readings are counted rather than listed.

1× Official description updated · Oct 13, 2026 – Oct 13, 2026

References

1 on the record

sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-xrncs-epni-int
NIST National Vulnerability Database

Elsewhere on this site

Cisco
every CVE for this vendor

CWE-460
other pages naming this weakness

Related CVEs (same products)

High CVE-2026-20074 Cisco IOS XR Software Multi-Instance Intermediate System-to-Intermediate System Denial of Service Vulnerability Mar 11, 2026
High CVE-2026-20046 Cisco IOS XR Software CLI Privilege Escalation Vulnerability Mar 11, 2026
High CVE-2026-20040 Cisco IOS XR Software CLI Privilege Escalation Vulnerability Mar 11, 2026
High CVE-2020-3118 Cisco IOS XR Software Discovery Protocol Format String Vulnerability KEV Feb 5, 2020

Not in any source we poll

Listed rather than left blank: an empty field and an unmeasured one look identical on screen, and only one is a reason to look elsewhere.

No fixed version, patch or mitigation documented.
No confirmed IOCs, IP addresses, domains, file hashes, or malware artifacts supplied.
No organization-specific asset inventory, compensating-control status, or patch deployment evidence supplied.
No exploit packet captures, log samples, or incident case IDs supplied.

Answered from this record

Text assembled only from the fields above — no additional claims.

What should defenders know first?

CVE-2026-20118 is "Cisco IOS-XR NCS 5500 and NCS 5700 Egress Packet Network Interfaces Aligner Interrupt Denial of Service Vulnerability", rated Medium. It affects Cisco IOS XR Software (Cisco); versions are in the scope table. It is not in CISA KEV, which does not rule out exploitation. CVSS 6.8 describes technical severity. EPSS 0.33% estimates the probability of exploitation in 30 days; neither replaces your asset context. First verify whether exposed or business-critical assets run the affected versions, apply vendor fixes or mitigations, and preserve logs for review.

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