A high-severity security advisory has been issued for a critical vulnerability in Meeting Management software. This vulnerability allows authenticated remote attackers to upload harmful files and gain complete control over the affected system.
The security flaw, identified as CVE-2026-20098, carries a high severity rating because it enables “root” access, the highest level of administrative permission on a device.
If an attacker successfully exploits this weakness, they can bypass security restrictions and take complete control of the server.
The core of this problem lies in the Certificate Management feature of the Cisco Meeting Management web interface. Typically, this feature is used to manage digital certificates, which are like ID cards for websites.
However, due to improper input validation, the system fails to verify the files users upload properly.
“Input validation” is a security process where the software inspects data to ensure it is safe before processing it. In this case, that check is missing or flawed.
This oversight means a remote attacker can trick the system into accepting malicious files instead of valid certificates.
For an attack to work, the hacker must already have valid credentials; specifically, they must be logged in with at least the “video operator” role.
While this requirement limits the threat slightly (since random strangers on the internet cannot immediately attack the system), the consequences of a successful breach are severe.
Once the attacker uploads their malicious file, it is processed by the “root” system account.
Affected Products and Fixes
In computer systems, the root account is the “super-user” with the power to change any setting, delete any file, or install new programs.
By exploiting this flaw, the attacker can execute arbitrary commands with these super-user privileges, effectively owning the device.
This vulnerability impacts Cisco Meeting Management releases 3.12 and earlier. Cisco has confirmed that the flaw exists regardless of how the device is configured.
Because there are no workarounds available to block this attack, simply changing settings will not protect the system.
The only way to fix the vulnerability is to update the software. Administrators should immediately upgrade to Cisco Meeting Management release 3.12.1 MR or later.
This updated version corrects the input validation error, preventing unauthorized file uploads.
This vulnerability was discovered and reported to Cisco by the NATO Cyber Security Centre Penetration Testing Team. There are currently no reports of this flaw being used in malicious attacks in the wild.
However, organizations are urged to patch quickly before attackers reverse-engineer the update to create an exploit.
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