CVE-2026-20085
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 · uneditedA vulnerability in the web-based management interface of Cisco IMC could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to conduct a reflected XSS attack against a user of the interface. This vulnerability is due to insufficient validation of user input. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by persuading a user of an affected interface to click a crafted link. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary script code in the browser of the targeted user or access sensitive, browser-based information.
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 · high confidenceA reflected XSS vulnerability exists in the Cisco IMC web-based management interface due to insufficient validation of user-supplied input. An unauthenticated remote attacker can craft a malicious URL containing JavaScript that gets reflected back to the user's browser without proper sanitization. When a victim clicks the crafted link, the attacker's script executes in the context of the vulnerable web application.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
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
- None
- User interaction
- Required
- Scope
- Changed
- Confidentiality
- Low
- Integrity
- Low
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N
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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify Cisco IMC presenceCheck if Cisco IMC (Integrated Management Controller) is installed. This is typically found on Cisco UCS servers, Cisco UCS C-Series, or Cisco UCS B-Series. Use the command 'show server info' or check system inventory.Affected if Cisco IMC web-based management interface is present in the environment
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Determine IMC firmware versionAccess the IMC CLI via SSH or IPMI, then run 'show version' or 'ucslcshow' to display the IMC firmware version. Alternatively, log into the IMC web interface and check the About or Version section.Affected if The installed version is within the affected range and has not been patched
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Verify web management interface is accessibleConfirm the IMC web interface is reachable by attempting to access https://<IMC-IP> from a browser or using curl to check for HTTP response.Affected if The web interface is exposed and reachable on the network
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Confirm XSS vulnerability contextThis is a reflected XSS requiring user interaction. The flaw exists when the web interface reflects user-supplied input in URLs without proper sanitization.Affected if Users have access to the web interface and could potentially click maliciously crafted URLs
You are affected if Cisco IMC is running with an unpatched firmware version and its web management interface is accessible to users who could click crafted malicious links.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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.
From vendor dataApply the vendor patch or firmware update provided by Cisco for the IMC software. Until the patch is available, avoid clicking untrusted links to the IMC management interface and consider restricting access to the management interface to trusted networks only.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2026-20085 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2026-20085 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- 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
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