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JabberApplication · Cisco

CVE-2020-26085

CRITICAL · 9.9 CVSS v3.1 Published 2021-01-07
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 12.1.4 / 12.5.3 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
Multiple vulnerabilities in Cisco Jabber for Windows, Jabber for MacOS, and Jabber for mobile platforms could allow an attacker to execute arbitrary programs on the underlying operating system (OS) with elevated privileges or gain access to sensitive information. For more information about these vulnerabilities, see the Details section of this advisory.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · moderate confidence

Cisco Jabber contains multiple vulnerabilities allowing attackers to execute arbitrary programs with elevated privileges or access sensitive information on Windows, macOS, and mobile platforms. The vulnerabilities stem from improper input validation and insecure handling of specific protocol messages within the Jabber client, enabling code execution in the context of the authenticated user or privilege escalation.

MitigationApply the vendor-supplied patches from Cisco's security advisory; prioritize patching due to the critical 9.9 CVSS score. If patching is delayed, consider network-based restrictions on XMPP traffic and limiting Jabber's network exposure.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
JabberApplication
Affected:< 12.1.4< 12.8.5< 12.9.4>= 12.5, < 12.5.3>= 12.6, < 12.6.4>= 12.7, < 12.7.3>= 12.8, < 12.8.4>= 12.9, < 12.9.3>= 12.9, < 12.9.4

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify Cisco Jabber installation location
    On Windows, check Program Files for 'Cisco Systems' folder containing CiscoJabber.exe; on macOS, check /Applications for Cisco Jabber.app; on mobile, check installed apps list
    Affected if Cisco Jabber is installed on the system
  2. Determine installed Jabber version
    On Windows, right-click the executable, select Properties, then look at Details tab for File Version; on macOS, right-click app, Get Info, look at Version field; or run 'Get-Item' PowerShell command on the Jabber executable path
    Affected if The version number falls within any of the affected ranges: < 12.1.4, >= 12.5 < 12.5.3, >= 12.6 < 12.6.4, >= 12.7 < 12.7.3, >= 12.8 < 12.8.5, or >= 12.9 < 12.9.4
  3. Verify XMPP client functionality is enabled
    Confirm the Jabber client is configured with an XMPP (Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol) account and is actively connecting to an XMPP server for messaging
    Affected if Jabber is actively running and connected to a server, as the code execution occurs through malicious protocol messages received by the client

User is affected if Cisco Jabber is installed with any version below 12.1.4, 12.5.3, 12.6.4, 12.7.3, 12.8.5, or 12.9.4, and the client is configured to handle XMPP protocol connections.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 12.1.4 / 12.5.3 / 12.6.4 or later
Fixed in 12.1.412.5.312.6.4
Interim mitigation

Apply the vendor-supplied patches from Cisco's security advisory; prioritize patching due to the critical 9.9 CVSS score. If patching is delayed, consider network-based restrictions on XMPP traffic and limiting Jabber's network exposure.

Recommended fix High confidence

12.9.4 or later (or 12.8.5, 12.5.3, or 12.1.4 depending on version branch)

  1. 1. Identify the current Cisco Jabber version installed by going to Help > About Cisco Jabber
  2. 2. Determine which version branch your current installation is on (12.1.x, 12.5.x, 12.8.x, or 12.9.x)
  3. 3. Download the appropriate fixed version from Cisco's official download site: https://software.cisco.com/
  4. 4. Close all instances of Cisco Jabber
  5. 5. Run the installer for the fixed version (minimum 12.9.4, or 12.8.5, or 12.5.3, or 12.1.4 depending on your version branch)
  6. 6. Follow the installation wizard prompts to complete the upgrade
  7. 7. Restart Cisco Jabber and verify the version in Help > About
Caveat Standard version upgrade - review Cisco release notes for any functionality changes in the new version

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Jabber Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation6.0 h
  • Implementation12.0 h
  • Testing16.0 h
  • Review / QA6.0 h
40.0 hours of engineering $6,840
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $10,944.

Scan for this in your stack

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2020-26085 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data