cisco-sa-iosxe-mntc-dos-LZweQcyqMediumCVSS 6.5

Cisco IOS XE Software Denial of Service Vulnerability

Published
March 25, 2026
Last Modified
April 2, 2026

🔗 CVE IDs covered (1)

CVE-2026-20110 →

📋 Description

A vulnerability in the CLI of Cisco IOS XE Software could allow an authenticated, local attacker to cause a denial of service (DoS) condition on an affected device.

This vulnerability exists because incorrect privileges are associated with the start maintenance command. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by accessing the management CLI of the affected device as a low-privileged user and using the start maintenance command. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to put the device in maintenance mode, which shuts down interfaces, resulting in a denial of service (DoS) condition. In case of exploitation, a device administrator can connect to the CLI and use the stop maintenance command to restore operations.

Cisco has released software updates that address this vulnerability. There are workarounds that address this vulnerability.

This advisory is part of the March 2026 release of the Cisco IOS and IOS XE 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 and IOS XE Software Security Advisory Bundled Publication ["https://sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/viewErp.x?alertId=ERP-75297"].

CVE-2026-20110 — Cisco IOS XE Software Denial of Service Vulnerability (CVSS 3.1 6.5, CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H)

🎯 Affected products254

  • Cisco IOS XE Software
  • Cisco IOS XE Software 16.10.1
  • Cisco IOS XE Software 16.10.1a
  • Cisco IOS XE Software 16.10.1b
  • Cisco IOS XE Software 16.10.1c
  • Cisco IOS XE Software 16.10.1d
  • Cisco IOS XE Software 16.10.1e
  • Cisco IOS XE Software 16.10.1f
  • Cisco IOS XE Software 16.10.1g
  • Cisco IOS XE Software 16.10.1s
  • Cisco IOS XE Software 16.10.2
  • Cisco IOS XE Software 16.10.3
  • Cisco IOS XE Software 16.11.1
  • Cisco IOS XE Software 16.11.1a
  • Cisco IOS XE Software 16.11.1b
  • Cisco IOS XE Software 16.11.1c
  • Cisco IOS XE Software 16.11.1s
  • Cisco IOS XE Software 16.11.2
  • Cisco IOS XE Software 16.12.1
  • Cisco IOS XE Software 16.12.10
  • Cisco IOS XE Software 16.12.10a
  • Cisco IOS XE Software 16.12.11
  • Cisco IOS XE Software 16.12.12
  • Cisco IOS XE Software 16.12.13
  • Cisco IOS XE Software 16.12.14
  • Cisco IOS XE Software 16.12.1a
  • Cisco IOS XE Software 16.12.1c
  • Cisco IOS XE Software 16.12.1s
  • Cisco IOS XE Software 16.12.1t
  • Cisco IOS XE Software 16.12.1w
  • +224 more not shown

✅ Remediation

Cisco has released software updates that address this vulnerability. https://software.cisco.com Workarounds: There is a workaround that addresses this vulnerability. Set the privilege level of the start maintenance command manually by connecting to the device management CLI and using the privilege exec level 15 start maintenance configuration command, as shown in the following example: Router# configuration terminal Enter configuration commands, one per line. End with CNTL/Z. Router(config)# privilege exec level 15 start maintenance While this workaround has been deployed and was proven successful in a test environment, customers should determine the applicability and effectiveness in their own environment and under their own use conditions. Customers should be aware that any workaround or mitigation that is implemented may negatively impact the functionality or performance of their network based on intrinsic customer deployment scenarios and limitations. Customers should not deploy any workarounds or mitigations before first evaluating the applicability to their own environment and any impact to such environment.

🔗 References (3)