Ciena MCP: privilege escalation

Critical9.8CVE-2026-5269 · Published Jul 14, 2026 · updated Jul 15, 2026

In Ciena's Navigator Network Control Suite (NCS) and Manage Control Plan (MCP), there are hidden system accounts used for internal software operations. Some of these accounts have default passwords that may be predictable. While these accounts have very limited permissions on their own, an attacker could combine an attack using one of these accounts with other potential weaknesses to launch a more significant attack, possibly leading to escalation of privilege on the system.