CVE-2024-20278: Cisco IOS XE

Medium severity, CVSS 6.5. EPSS: 0.5% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days.

A vulnerability in the NETCONF feature of Cisco IOS XE Software could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to elevate privileges to root on an affected device. This vulnerability is due to improper validation of user-supplied input. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending crafted input over NETCONF to an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to elevate privileges from Administrator to root.

Affected products

• Cisco IOS XE: version 17.6.1 only; version 17.6.1a only; version 17.6.1w only; version 17.6.1x only; version 17.6.1y only; version 17.6.1z only; …

Published 2024-03-27. Last modified 2026-06-17.