Vulnerability · CVE-2026-20118
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…
Published Mar 11, 2026 · catalog updated Jun 17, 2026 · the affected product
Check if you run it
No confirmed exploitation is on record for CVE-2026-20118. EPSS is 0.33%. Act only if a listed version of the affected product is installed.
Gaps on this record
- No plain product name is stored. The page cannot tell you which product to check.
- No version range is stored. A customer cannot check an installed version against this record.
- No vendor fix or required action is stored. Compare the linked advisory before you change production.
- Severity
- Medium6.8
- Known exploitation
- Not in CISA/VulnCheck KEV
- EPSS
- 0.33%
- Remediation
- Advisory link
- Affected products
- See sources for product scope
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.
No affected version ranges are stored yet. Use the vendor advisory before you decide this record does not apply.
How to fix CVE-2026-20118
Recommended remediation
A patch or advisory reference is linked. Open the original publisher for availability by product version.
Official advisories
What to do
Three questions, each answered from this record only. Confirm the vendor advisory before you patch.
Should you patch?
No confirmed exploitation is on record for CVE-2026-20118. EPSS is 0.33%. Act only if a listed version of the affected product is installed.
Which versions are affected?
Affected version ranges are not on this record. Compare the installed version with the linked vendor advisory before you change production.
What should an analyst verify?
CWE-460. EPSS 0.33%. There is no CISA KEV listing. No Exploit-DB or Metasploit reference is linked. Use the source links for the original advisory.
Code
The project this record applies to. Exploit listings stay in References.
No public source repository is identified for this product.
Timeline
Detection, updates, and resolution for this record.
Mar 11, 2026 · NIST NVD
Detected
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, preven
Jun 17, 2026 · NIST NVD
Updated
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, preven
Sources
- CVE.orgVulnerability recordCVE-2026-20118
Official CVE identifier
cve.org - FIRST EPSSExploitation probabilityCVE-2026-20118
30-day exploitation probability 0.3%
first.org - NIST NVDVulnerability recordCVE-2026-20118
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
nvd.nist.gov
References
Freshness
Last verified in this catalog Oct 18, 2026. Significant claims (KEV, EPSS, CVSS, affected ranges) come from the source rows above — open the original publisher for the authoritative advisory.