CVE-2026-8169

HighCVSS 8.7

Published: 20/07/2026(UTC)Updated: 21/07/2026(UTC)Translated: 23/07/2026(UTC)NVD NIST

Exploitation Probability (EPSS)

Low risk

0.28%

20th percentile - higher than 20% of all known CVEs

Summary

ExtremeXOS (EXOS) uses an insufficiently random source to generate challenge values for debug-mode authentication. This allows predicting the response and activating debug-mode without authorization, potentially leading to root-level access and persistent software modification.

Risk Assessment

An attacker with a low-privilege account or serial console access can gain full control over the network device, altering its configuration and software.

Recommendation

Apply the ExtremeXOS software update provided by the vendor that fixes the random number generator for the challenge-response mechanism.

Other vulnerabilities in ExtremeXOS

CVE-2026-8170High
Vulnerability in ExtremeXOS (EXOS) – mv, cp, rm commands unsafely handle symbolic links, allowing an attacker with low privileges to access files outside the allowed scope. This can lead to root privilege escalation and persistent software modification.

Original NVD description (English source)

ExtremeXOS (EXOS) uses a challenge-response mechanism to authorize access to the privileged debug-mode function. The challenge value is generated using an insufficiently random source, which under certain conditions may allow an attacker to predict the expected response and activate debug-mode without authorization. Depending on device configuration and version, this may enable escalation to root-level access and persistent modification of the device software stack. Exploitation requires either a valid low-privilege account on the device (remote scenario) or physical serial console access (local scenario). This vulnerability is distinct from CVE-2017-14329, which addressed a different issue involving Python script privileges. Extreme would like to thank Hadrien Barral (Université Gustave Eiffel) and Georges-Axel Jaloyan (French Ministry of the Interior) for responsible disclosure of their findings.