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Ios XrOperating system · Cisco

CVE-2025-20145

MEDIUM · 5.8 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 →
67/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable 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 access control list (ACL) processing in the egress direction of Cisco IOS XR Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to bypass a configured ACL. This vulnerability exists because certain packets are handled incorrectly when they are received on an ingress interface on one line card and destined out of an egress interface on another line card where the egress ACL is configured. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by attempting to send traffic through an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to bypass an egress ACL on the affected device. For more information about this vulnerability, see the section of this advisory. Cisco has released software updates that address this vulnerability. There are no workarounds that address this vulnerability.

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

This is a traffic handling vulnerability in Cisco IOS XR where packets entering one line card and exiting through another line card are not properly processed by egress ACLs. The bug occurs specifically in cross-linecard traffic flows where the ACL is applied on the egress interface of the destination line card, allowing traffic to bypass security filtering.

MitigationApply the Cisco IOS XR software update that addresses this vulnerability. No workarounds are available, so updating is the only remediation path.

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:= 6.5.1= 6.5.2= 6.5.3= 6.5.92= 6.5.93= 6.6.1= 6.6.2= 6.6.3= 6.6.4= 6.6.25= 7.0.1= 7.0.2

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
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
Low
Availability
None

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

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. Check Cisco IOS XR version
    Run 'show version' or 'show install active' to display the installed IOS XR software version
    Affected if The version matches any of these: 6.5.1, 6.5.2, 6.5.3, 6.5.92, 6.5.93, 6.6.1, 6.6.2, 6.6.3, 6.6.4, 6.6.25, 7.0.1, or 7.0.2
  2. Verify multi-linecard chassis configuration
    Run 'show platform' or 'show chassis' to list installed line cards and their types
    Affected if The system has multiple line cards and traffic can flow between different line cards (this vulnerability only affects cross-linecard traffic flows)
  3. Identify egress ACL configurations on line card interfaces
    Run 'show running-config | include access-list' and 'show interface' to identify ACLs applied to egress on line card interfaces
    Affected if Access control lists are applied to egress interfaces on line cards and traffic between line cards is expected to traverse those ACLs

The environment is affected if the installed Cisco IOS XR version matches one of the affected versions listed, the system has multiple line cards, and egress ACLs are applied on line card interfaces that handle cross-linecard traffic.

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.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Apply the Cisco IOS XR software update that addresses this vulnerability. No workarounds are available, so updating is the only remediation path.

Fix this in Ios Xr Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
12.0 hours of engineering $2,130
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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-2025-20145 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
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