CVE-2026-20119 and CVE-2026-20098: Understanding Recent High-Severity Cisco Collaboration Vulnerabilities

Overview of the February 2026 Cisco CVEs

Both CVEs were published on February 04, 2026, and fixes are available from Cisco.

CVE-2026-20119: TelePresence and RoomOS Denial of Service Vulnerability

What Is CVE-2026-20119?

CVE-2026-20119 is a high-severity denial-of-service (DoS) vulnerability affecting:

• Cisco TelePresence Collaboration Endpoint Software
• Cisco RoomOS Software

An unauthenticated remote attacker can trigger a crash or forced reload of an affected device, causing temporary service disruption.

How Was CVE-2026-20119 Possible?

Collaboration endpoints must process various types of remote input, including:

• Meeting invitations
• Call metadata
• Text fields and signaling data

In this case, the software did not sufficiently handle certain malformed input conditions. When specially crafted data is processed, it can push the system into an unstable state, resulting in a crash or restart.

This is a common pattern in DoS vulnerabilities:

• Unexpected input
• Insufficient validation
• Failure to safely recover from parsing errors

Why CVE-2026-20119 Matters

Although this vulnerability does not allow code execution, it can:

• Disrupt meetings and business operations
• Impact conference rooms and shared collaboration spaces
• Be exploited remotely without authentication

In environments that rely heavily on video conferencing, even temporary outages can have operational consequences.

CVE-2026-20098: Cisco Meeting Management Arbitrary File Upload Vulnerability

What Is CVE-2026-20098?

CVE-2026-20098 is a high-severity arbitrary file upload vulnerability in Cisco Meeting Management, a platform used to administer meeting rooms and collaboration infrastructure.

An authenticated attacker with at least video operator privileges can upload arbitrary files to the system via the web management interface.

How Was CVE-2026-20098 Possible?

The vulnerability exists due to insufficient input validation in the Certificate Management feature. Specifically:

• Uploaded files were not strictly validated
• File type and content restrictions were inadequate
• Files could be written to sensitive locations

Once arbitrary files are uploaded, they may be processed by system components running with elevated privileges, increasing the risk of further compromise.

Why CVE-2026-20098 Is Serious

While authentication is required, this vulnerability is dangerous because it:

• Enables attackers to bypass intended file handling restrictions
• May lead to command execution or privilege escalation
• Turns a trusted administrative role into a potential attack vector

File upload vulnerabilities are especially risky in management platforms because they often run with high system privileges.

Common Security Themes Across Both CVEs

Despite affecting different products, these vulnerabilities share several underlying themes:

1. Input Handling Risks

Both CVEs stem from insufficient validation of external input, whether unauthenticated network data or authenticated file uploads.

2. Complexity of Collaboration Platforms

Modern collaboration systems integrate networking, media processing, web interfaces, and device management — increasing the likelihood of subtle logic errors.

3. High Impact Despite Limited Scope

Even without full remote code execution, vulnerabilities like DoS and file upload flaws can significantly disrupt enterprise environments.

How Cisco Addressed These Vulnerabilities

Cisco mitigated these issues by:

• Improving input validation and error handling
• Hardening file upload mechanisms
• Releasing patched software versions for all affected products

Cisco recommends upgrading to fixed versions as no effective workarounds fully mitigate these risks.

Key Takeaways

• CVE-2026-20119 demonstrates how malformed remote input can disrupt collaboration endpoints through denial-of-service conditions.
• CVE-2026-20098 shows how improper file validation in management interfaces can lead to serious security risks.
• Collaboration and meeting platforms remain attractive targets due to their visibility and access.
• Timely patching and restricted access to management interfaces are critical defenses.

Source: https://sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/publicationListing.x