Hazard

Is CVE-2020-3118 being exploited?

Confirmed exploited in the wild

CISA has evidence of active exploitation. This is not theoretical risk — someone has already used it against someone.

Cisco IOS XR Software Discovery Protocol Format String Vulnerability

Cisco · IOS XR

CVSS 8.8 EPSS 12% no public exploit indexed Fix deadline passed 3 May 2022

What it is

Cisco IOS XR improperly validates string input from certain fields in Cisco Discovery Protocol messages. Exploitation could allow an unauthenticated, adjacent attacker to execute code with administrative privileges or cause a reload on an affected device.

Why we say that

  • CISA's federal remediation deadline (2022-05-03) has passed
  • Listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalogue

Every line above comes from a named public source. Where the evidence is thin, we say so rather than inventing confidence — see methodology.

What to do

Apply updates per vendor instructions.

What it costs when this goes wrong

This is where UK enforcement meets the vulnerability record. Where an unfixed vulnerability leads to a breach, the ICO treats it as a security failure under UK GDPR. Recent cases:

All UK cases caused by unpatched software →