CVE-2026-20263
Received Received - Intake

Denial of Service in Cisco IOS XE via BEEP SOAP Request

Publication date: 2026-08-05

Last updated on: 2026-08-05

Assigner: Cisco Systems, Inc.

Description
A vulnerability in the Blocks Extensible Exchange Protocol (BEEP) feature of Cisco IOS XE Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to cause a denial of service (DoS) condition on an affected device. This vulnerability is due to improper handling when parsing a specific BEEP SOAP request. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a specific BEEP SOAP request to an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause the device to reload unexpectedly, resulting in a DoS condition.

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Meta Information

Published
2026-08-05
Last Modified
2026-08-05
Generated
2026-08-05
AI Q&A
2026-08-05
EPSS Evaluated
N/A
NVD
CVE-2026-20263
EUVD
EUVD-2026-53452

Affected Vendors & Products

Showing 1 associated CPE
Vendor Product Version / Range
cisco ios_xe *

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Exploitability

CWE
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KEV
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CWE ID Description
CWE-388

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Executive Summary

This vulnerability is in Cisco IOS XE Software's BEEP feature. It allows an unauthenticated remote attacker to cause a denial of service by sending a specially crafted SOAP request. The device may reload unexpectedly due to improper parsing of the request.

Detection Guidance

To detect this vulnerability, check if the BEEP feature is configured on your Cisco IOS XE device. Use CLI commands like 'show running-config | include beep' or 'show platform software beep status' to verify BEEP configuration. Monitor for unexpected device reloads or DoS conditions.

Impact Analysis

An attacker could exploit this to crash your network device, causing downtime and loss of connectivity. Affected devices include those using NETCONF over BEEP or a BEEP listener. The device may reload unexpectedly, disrupting services.

Compliance Impact

This vulnerability causes a denial of service (DoS) condition by crashing affected Cisco IOS XE devices, which could disrupt critical network services. For compliance with standards like GDPR or HIPAA, such disruptions may lead to service unavailability, potential data processing delays, or breaches of availability requirements. However, the CVE does not explicitly link this vulnerability to specific compliance impacts.

Mitigation Strategies

Immediately upgrade affected Cisco IOS XE devices to fixed software releases provided by Cisco. Disable the BEEP feature if not required using 'no beep' in configuration mode. Apply access control measures to restrict SOAP request traffic to trusted sources.

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