dbcve.org
Ios XrOperating system · Cisco

CVE-2025-20141

HIGH · 7.4 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-03-12
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
79/100
Remediation priority · High
No privileges Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
A vulnerability in the handling of specific packets that are punted from a line card to a route processor in Cisco IOS XR Software Release 7.9.2 could allow an unauthenticated, adjacent attacker to cause control plane traffic to stop working on multiple Cisco IOS XR platforms.  This vulnerability is due to incorrect handling of packets that are punted to the route processor. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending traffic, which must be handled by the Linux stack on the route processor, to an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause control plane traffic to stop working, resulting in a denial of service (DoS) condition.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

A vulnerability in Cisco IOS XR Software Release 7.9.2 allows an unauthenticated, adjacent attacker to cause denial of service by sending specific packets that get punted from a line card to the route processor. The incorrect handling of these packets by the Linux stack on the route processor causes control plane traffic to stop working.

MitigationUpgrade to a fixed version of Cisco IOS XR Software as specified in the Cisco advisory; apply network segmentation to limit adjacent attacker access to affected devices.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
Ios XrOperating system
Affected:= 7.9.2

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Adjacent
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Verify the Cisco IOS XR software version
    Execute 'show version' or 'admin show version' on the device and locate the software version string in the output
    Affected if The displayed version is exactly 7.9.2
  2. Confirm the device has a route processor architecture
    Execute 'show platform' or 'admin show platform' to verify the presence of a route processor and line cards
    Affected if The device uses a route processor with line cards that can punt traffic to it (typical IOS XR chassis architecture)
  3. Identify network accessibility to the device
    Review network topology and access control lists to determine if an adjacent attacker can reach the device's management or data plane interfaces
    Affected if The device is accessible from untrusted network segments without appropriate segmentation

The environment is affected if the device runs Cisco IOS XR version 7.9.2 and an adjacent attacker can send packets to it.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Upgrade to a fixed version of Cisco IOS XR Software as specified in the Cisco advisory; apply network segmentation to limit adjacent attacker access to affected devices.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Fixed IOS XR release (check Cisco Security Advisory for specific version - the advisory at sec.cloudapps.cisco.com will list the fixed releases)

  1. Check Cisco Security Advisory for CVE-2025-20141 on sec.cloudapps.cisco.com to identify the fixed IOS XR release
  2. Download the fixed IOS XR software version from Cisco Software Central
  3. Plan maintenance window as upgrade will require device reload
  4. Back up current configuration using the procedure for your device
  5. Upload new IOS XR image to boot disk or network server
  6. Initiate software install using the install command or ROMMON procedure for your platform
  7. Verify new version is running post-reload using show version
  8. Confirm control plane functionality is restored and no errors in logs
Caveat Standard IOS XR upgrade considerations apply - review release notes for any functionality changes and ensure compatibility with your platform

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Ios Xr Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
22.0 hours of engineering $3,860
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2025-20141 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data