# CVE-2026-20045: Cisco Unified Communications Products Code Injection

> Unauthenticated remote attackers can execute arbitrary commands and escalate privileges to root via crafted HTTP requests to the web interface.

- **Severity:** High 8.2 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:L/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Yes, since 21 Jan 2026 (CISA KEV)
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 21 Jan 2026
- **Updated:** 26 Feb 2026
- **Also known as:** GHSA-h4w3-hxw6-99q7

## What is CVE-2026-20045?

CVE-2026-20045 is a high-severity command injection vulnerability in Cisco Unified Communications Manager, published on 21 Jan 2026. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

A vulnerability in Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Unified CM), Cisco Unified Communications Manager Session Management Edition (Unified CM SME), Cisco Unified Communications Manager IM & Presence Service (Unified CM IM&P), Cisco Unity Connection, and Cisco Webex Calling Dedicated Instance could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to execute arbitrary commands on the underlying operating system of an affected device. 

This vulnerability is due to improper validation of user-supplied input in HTTP requests. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a sequence of crafted HTTP requests to the web-based management interface of an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to obtain user-level access to the underlying operating system and then elevate privileges to root. 
Note: Cisco has assigned this security advisory a Security Impact Rating (SIR) of Critical rather than High as the score indicates. The reason is that exploitation of this vulnerability could result in an attacker elevating privileges to root.

Weakness: CWE-94 (Improper Control of Generation of Code)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-20045?

It affects 3 products.


Products: Cisco Unified Communications Manager, Cisco Unified Communications Manager Im and Presence Service, Cisco Unity Connection.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-20045?

No fix has been published for CVE-2026-20045 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available. US federal agencies must fix it by 11 Feb 2026.

## Is CVE-2026-20045 being exploited?

Yes. Attackers have exploited CVE-2026-20045 in the wild since at least 21 Jan 2026.

Public exploit code:

- CVE-2026-20045 (github_poc): https://github.com/dkstar11q/Ashwesker-CVE-2026-20045

## Other vulnerabilities in Cisco Unified Communications Manager

- [CVE-2026-20230](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-20230/): Cisco Unified Communications Manager Server-Side Request Forgery (SSRF) (high 8.6, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2025-20309](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-20309/): Cisco Unified Communications Manager Static SSH Credentials Vulnerability (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2011-1643](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2011-1643/): Information disclosure in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2024-20253](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-20253/): Deserialization in Cisco Packaged Contact Center Enterprise (critical 9.9)
- [CVE-2009-0632](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2009-0632/): Information disclosure in n/a (critical 9.0)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-20045 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-20045 is a high-severity command injection vulnerability in Cisco Unified Communications Manager, published on 21 Jan 2026. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: Yes. Attackers have exploited CVE-2026-20045 in the wild since at least 21 Jan 2026.

Affected product: Cisco Unified Communications Manager. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-20045/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-20045/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-20045
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-20045
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-20045

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-20045/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.