Buffer overflow in Cisco iOS Xe Software

CVE-2026-20268

As part of Cisco's ongoing commitment to proactive security and product quality, the Cisco IOS XE Software engineering team has conducted a comprehensive internal security review. This review resulted in software hardening releases that address multiple internally discovered vulnerabilities. The vulnerabilities tracked by CVE-2026-20268 are related to issues with improper restriction of operations within the bounds of a memory buffer that are grouped under the Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) Pillar CWE-119.

Vulnerability class: Buffer Overflow

Published · last modified .

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 8.6 (High). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H.

EPSS exploit prediction

EPSS: 0.005 (40.4th percentile), scored .

Very low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days; routine patching cadence is appropriate. 40th percentile — 40.4% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.

EPSS trend (30 days)EPSS over the last 30 days for CVE-2026-20268: held from 0.005 to 0.005.

EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.005 · newest: 0.005 · change: 0.000

Affected products

Weakness classification (CWE)

References

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2026-20268?
CVE-2026-20268 is a high-severity vulnerability in Cisco iOS Xe Software, classified under Improper Restriction of Operations within the Bounds of a Memory Buffer. CVSS score: 8.6/10. Published 2026-08-05.
How severe is CVE-2026-20268?
High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 8.6 out of 10.