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Cisco IOS XR EUVDEUVD-2026-107359

| CVE-2026-76505 HIGH
Improper Input Validation (CWE-20)
2026-10-21 cisco GHSA-5c8p-wwqr-9h22
7.5
CVSS 3.1 · Vendor: cisco
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Attack ChainAIDerived

Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain

  1. Access
    Send crafted for-us IPv4 packets to line card
  2. Exploit
    Trigger network processor error
  3. Execution
    Line card reset or NP shutdown
  4. Impact
    Traffic loss and denial of service

Vulnerability Assessment

Weakness
CWE
OWASP Top 10:2025
A05:2025 - Injection
ASVS 5.0
V2 - Validation and Business Logic Input validation, allowlisting
Exploitation Conditions

Exploitation requires the target to be an ASR 9000 or 9900 Series or ASR 9902/9903 Compact router running Cisco IOS XR, and the crafted IPv4 packets must be received on an affected line card interface and processed as for-us traffic (destined to the device itself/control plane). Limiting factors that reduce real-world exposure: transit IPv4 traffic does NOT trigger the flaw and IPv6 traffic CANNOT trigger it, so the attacker must be able to reach a router-addressed IPv4 interface; persistent NP shutdown (requiring manual line card reload) only occurs under repeated reset conditions, whereas single events cause transient recovery. No authentication or user interaction is required (PR:N/UI:N).

Impact

This is a genuine availability-focused DoS affecting carrier-grade routing hardware, but not a top-tier emergency. The CVSS 3.1 vector (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H, 7.5) indicates remote, unauthenticated, low-complexity exploitation with no user interaction - the worst-case reachability profile - but impact is confined to availability (C:N/I:N), so there is no data compromise or code execution. No EPSS score, CISA KEV entry, POC reference, or SSVC decision data was provided in the input, so exploitation probability and automatability cannot be quantified from the available signals; the only exploitation evidence is the vendor advisory itself. The practical risk is tempered by the requirement that malicious IPv4 packets be processed as 'for-us' traffic (destined to the device control plane) on an affected line card - transit IPv4 and all IPv6 traffic are explicitly non-triggering - which narrows the realistic attack surface to the router's own addressed interfaces. Overall: a credible, patch-worthy control-plane DoS for operators of the named ASR 9000/9900/9902/9903 platforms, but currently no public exploit identified and no evidence of active exploitation.

Exploit ScenarioDerived

A remote, unauthenticated attacker sends specially crafted IPv4 packets addressed to an affected ASR 9000/9900/9902/9903 line card interface so they are handled as for-us (control-plane) traffic. The malformed packets trigger a network processor error, causing the line card to reset and drop traffic while it recovers; repeated packets can drive the NP into a persistent shutdown requiring a manual line card reload. No public exploit code is identified at time of analysis.

This Week Schedule remediation this week. Why: HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9).
No patch listed yet 0.3% exploitation probability (EPSS)

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AnalysisAIv1 – Oct 21, 2026

Crafted IPv4 packets addressed to the router itself can drive the line card network processor on Cisco IOS XR into repeated resets, causing traffic loss and - under sustained attack - a persistent shutdown state that requires manual line card reload to recover. The flaw affects carrier-grade hardware specifically: Cisco ASR 9000 and 9900 Series Aggregation Services Routers plus the ASR 9902 and 9903 Compact High-Performance Routers. No authentication or user interaction is needed (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H, 7.5), and no public exploit code or confirmed active exploitation was identified at time of analysis; exposure is bounded by the fact that transit IPv4 traffic and all IPv6 traffic cannot trigger the fault.

RemediationAI

No vendor-released patch or fixed XR release was identified in the available data at time of analysis, so treat the Cisco advisory at https://sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-asr9k-tUyxcyXN as the authoritative source for fixed release trains and upgrade guidance, and plan a maintenance-window IOS XR upgrade once a fixed image is published. In the interim, the practical control is to keep crafted IPv4 packets from reaching a router-addressed interface: apply ingress IPv4 ACLs or infrastructure/control-plane protection (LPTS/CoPP) on line card interfaces to drop malformed or unexpected for-us IPv4, accepting the trade-off that overly broad filters will also drop legitimate router-destined management, IGP/BGP peering, and ICMP traffic, so permit-lists must be scoped to known peers and management subnets. Where a fixed image is not yet deployable, limiting which interfaces accept router-addressed IPv4 (for example, restricting management access to dedicated out-of-band interfaces) reduces the attack surface, at the cost of operational flexibility; operators should also monitor for repeated line card NP resets so they can intervene before the NP enters the persistent shutdown state that requires a manual line card reload.

Affected VersionsENISA

Cisco IOS XR Software 7.1.2
Cisco IOS XR Software 7.11.2
Cisco IOS XR Software 7.3.4
Cisco IOS XR Software 7.3.3
Cisco IOS XR Software 6.7.1
Cisco IOS XR Software 6.7.2
Cisco IOS XR Software 7.9.2
Cisco IOS XR Software 7.0.1
Cisco IOS XR Software 7.11.1
Cisco IOS XR Software 24.2.2
Cisco IOS XR Software 7.5.5
Cisco IOS XR Software 7.10.1
Cisco IOS XR Software 24.3.1
Cisco IOS XR Software 7.7.2
Cisco IOS XR Software 7.4.1
Cisco IOS XR Software 7.10.2
Cisco IOS XR Software 7.1.3
Cisco IOS XR Software 7.9.21
Cisco IOS XR Software 7.9.1
Cisco IOS XR Software 24.3.2
Cisco IOS XR Software 7.11.21
Cisco IOS XR Software 7.1.1
Cisco IOS XR Software 7.5.2
Cisco IOS XR Software 7.8.22
Cisco IOS XR Software 7.6.2
Cisco IOS XR Software 7.5.4
Cisco IOS XR Software 6.9.2
Cisco IOS XR Software 7.6.1
Cisco IOS XR Software 7.3.2
Cisco IOS XR Software 7.0.90
Cisco IOS XR Software 7.8.2
Cisco IOS XR Software 24.1.2
Cisco IOS XR Software 24.2.1
Cisco IOS XR Software 6.7.3
Cisco IOS XR Software 7.1.15
Cisco IOS XR Software 6.8.2
Cisco IOS XR Software 24.4.1
Cisco IOS XR Software 24.3.30
Cisco IOS XR Software 7.0.2
Cisco IOS XR Software 7.1.25
Cisco IOS XR Software 7.8.23
Cisco IOS XR Software 6.9.1
Cisco IOS XR Software 7.8.1
Cisco IOS XR Software 6.7.35
Cisco IOS XR Software 7.5.1
Cisco IOS XR Software 7.3.1
Cisco IOS XR Software 6.8.1
Cisco IOS XR Software 24.3.20
Cisco IOS XR Software 24.1.1
Cisco IOS XR Software 7.4.2
Cisco IOS XR Software 7.5.3
Cisco IOS XR Software 7.3.5
Cisco IOS XR Software 7.7.1

Affected Packages

euvd cisco_ios_xr_software no fix

Source: OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities)

Affects your stack

Affects 1 package in euvd

Checking this CVE against your own stacks and servers is part of the Basic plan and up.

Technical ContextAI · show details

The defect lives in the IPv4 packet-processing path of Cisco IOS XR software running on ASR 9000/9900 line cards, and is classified as CWE-20 (Improper Input Validation): the network processor mishandles specially crafted IPv4 packets that are received on a line card interface and classified as 'for-us' traffic - that is, packets destined to an IP address owned by the router and therefore punted toward the control plane rather than forwarded. Because the parsing/validation of those router-addressed packets is insufficient, the NP faults, resets, and temporarily stops forwarding on that line card; if the resets recur, the NP can latch into a persistent shutdown state that only an explicit line card reload clears. The scoping is important for defenders: the packet must be routed to the device itself, so pure transit traffic is unaffected, and the vulnerable code path is IPv4-specific, so IPv6 cannot be used to trigger it. CPE data identifies the affected platform family as cisco_ios_xr_software on the ASR 9000/9900 and ASR 9902/9903 hardware.

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Severity by source

Vendor (cisco) PRIMARY 7.5 HIGH
AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
vuln.today AI 7.5 HIGH

Remote unauthenticated crafted packets with no interaction (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N); impact is line card DoS only, so C:N/I:N/A:H and scope unchanged.

3.1 AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
4.0 AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N

Primary rating from Vendor (cisco).

CVSS VectorVendor: cisco

Attack Vector
Network
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
None
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

DescriptionCVE.org

A vulnerability in the IPv4 packet processing functionality of Cisco IOS XR Software that affects Cisco ASR 9000 and 9900 Series Aggregation Services Routers as well as Cisco ASR 9902 and 9903 Compact High-Performance Routers could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to cause network processor (NP) errors, resulting in a line card reset or shutdown and a denial of service (DoS) condition. 

This vulnerability is due to the incorrect handling of crafted IPv4 packets that are received on an affected line card interface and processed as for-us traffic. The issue can result in an NP reset, causing traffic loss on the affected line card while it recovers. Under repeated reset conditions, the network processor may enter a persistent shutdown state, in which case an explicit line card reload may be required to restore traffic. The vulnerability is within the IPv4 packet-processing path. Transit IPv4 traffic does not trigger this issue and IPv6 traffic cannot trigger it.

Executive ViewAI

Why It Matters

Cisco IOS XR on the carrier-grade ASR 9000 and 9900 Series routers and ASR 9902/9903 Compact routers can be forced into repeated line card resets and a persistent, manually recoverable shutdown by unauthenticated IPv4 traffic directed at the router itself. This places core aggregation and edge routing capacity at risk of sustained outage, which translates into customer-facing service disruption and costly manual field intervention. Leadership should care because the affected platforms are typically backbone or aggregation assets, so even a localized traffic-loss event can cascade across many downstream customers and services.

Business Impact: High
Compensating Controls

No vendor-released patch identified at time of analysis. Interim mitigations: enforce control-plane policing and infrastructure ACLs to rate-limit or block IPv4 traffic destined to the router, restrict management-plane access to trusted sources, monitor for repeated line card resets, and pre-stage the documented manual line card reload recovery procedure; note that transit IPv4 and all IPv6 traffic cannot trigger the fault.

Threat Intelligence Overview

EPSS Score
0.3%
Top 74% exploitable
Prevalence
High
carrier-grade Cisco ASR 9000-family routers widely deployed by service providers
Data Quality
3 sources
Confidence: Low

How this decision was reached

The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.

SignalValue
Severity HIGH
CISA KEV No
Public POC No
EPSS 0.3%
Patch available No
Active threat No
Deciding rule
HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9)
What every action level means
Emergency Immediate action required. Criteria: CRITICAL + in CISA KEV (actively exploited) without patch, OR CRITICAL + EPSS > 30% without patch, OR CRITICAL + active threat signals without patch.
Act Now Prioritize within 24-48h. Criteria: in KEV with patch available, OR CRITICAL + public POC, OR HIGH + EPSS > 10%, OR CRITICAL + active threat, OR any CRITICAL severity.
This Week Schedule remediation this week. Criteria: HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9). Patch within normal change window.
This Month Plan within 30 days. Criteria: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9), lower exploitation probability. Include in regular patch cycle.
Monitor Track and reassess. Criteria: LOW severity (CVSS 0.1-3.9), minimal exploitation risk. No immediate action needed.

SSVC AssessmentENISA

SSVC Decision
Scheduled
Exploitation
None
System Exposure· derived
Open
Automatable
Yes
Human Impact
High
Technical Impact
Partial

Priority Score

38
Low Medium High Critical
KEV: 0
EPSS: 0
CVSS: +38
PoC: 0
Weaponized: 0
Threat intel: 0
Gov advisory: 0

Attack Technique

Denial of Service attacks render applications or systems unavailable by overwhelming resources or triggering failure conditions.

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