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Ios XeOperating system · Cisco

CVE-2025-20196

MEDIUM · 5.3 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-05-07
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 1.5.2 / 15.9 or later.
See remediation →
62/100
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 Cisco IOx application hosting environment of Cisco IOS Software and Cisco IOS XE Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to cause the Cisco IOx application hosting environment to stop responding, resulting in a denial of service (DoS) condition. This vulnerability is due to the improper handling of HTTP requests. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending crafted HTTP requests to an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause the Cisco IOx application hosting environment to stop responding. The IOx process will need to be manually restarted to recover services.

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 · moderate confidence

This vulnerability affects the Cisco IOx application hosting environment in Cisco IOS and IOS XE software. It is caused by improper handling of HTTP requests, allowing unauthenticated remote attackers to send crafted HTTP requests that cause the IOx process to stop responding, resulting in a denial of service condition.

MitigationApply the appropriate Cisco IOS/IOS XE software update when available from Cisco. The IOx process will require manual restart to recover services after exploitation.

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 XeOperating system
Affected:= 16.1.1= 16.1.2= 16.1.3= 16.2.1= 16.2.2= 16.3.1= 16.3.1a= 16.3.2= 16.3.3= 16.3.4= 16.3.5= 16.3.5b
Cgr1000 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:< 15.9\(3\)m12
Ir510 Wpan FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Ic3000 Industrial Compute Gateway FirmwareOperating system
Affected:< 1.5.2
807 Industrial Integrated Services Router FirmwareOperating system
Affected:< 15.9\(3\)m11
809 Industrial Integrated Services Router FirmwareOperating system
Affected:< 15.9\(3\)m11
829 Industrial Integrated Services Router FirmwareOperating system
Affected:< 15.9\(3\)m11

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
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
Low

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

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. Identify the device model and software version
    Use 'show version' or 'show inventory' commands to determine the exact hardware model and software version running on the device
    Affected if The device runs Cisco IOS XE versions 16.1.1 through 16.3.5b, or is a Cisco CGR1000, IR510, IC3000, 807, 809, or 829 with a version lower than the specified thresholds
  2. Confirm IOx application hosting is enabled
    Check the device configuration for IOx-related settings using 'show iox' or review the running configuration for 'iox' or 'app-hosting' keywords
    Affected if IOx is enabled and running on the device, making it vulnerable to the HTTP request handling flaw
  3. Verify if the device is a vulnerable industrial router model
    Use 'show version' to identify the specific model number - look for CGR1000, IR510, IC3000, 807, 809, or 829 designations in the output
    Affected if The device is one of these industrial router models with firmware below the specified version thresholds (15.9(3)m12 for CGR1000, 1.5.2 for IC3000, 15.9(3)m11 for 807/809/829, or any version of IR510)
  4. Check IOx process responsiveness
    Use 'show iox service' or 'show process cpu | include iox' to verify the IOx process is running and responsive
    Affected if The IOx process has stopped responding or is experiencing issues, which may indicate exploitation of this vulnerability

The device is affected if it is a Cisco IOS XE device with IOx enabled running version 16.1.1-16.3.5b, or a CGR1000/IC3000/807/809/829/IR510 industrial router with IOx enabled running a version below the specified thresholds.

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
Upgrade available Upgrade to 1.5.2 / 15.9 or later
Fixed in 1.5.215.9
Interim mitigation

Apply the appropriate Cisco IOS/IOS XE software update when available from Cisco. The IOx process will require manual restart to recover services after exploitation.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

For IOS XE: upgrade to 16.2.1 or later (16.2.2 recommended); For CGR1000: 15.9(3)m12 or later; For IC3000: 1.5.2 or later; For IR510 WPAN: contact Cisco for specific fixed release; For 807/809/829 ISRs: 15.9(3)m11 or later

  1. 1. Identify the specific Cisco device model and current firmware version using 'show version' or the device management interface
  2. 2. Navigate to the Cisco Security Advisories page (sec.cloudapps.cisco.com) and locate CVE-2025-20196
  3. 3. Download the recommended fixed firmware version for your specific device from the Cisco software download center
  4. 4. Back up the current device configuration
  5. 5. Upload the fixed firmware to the device using the appropriate method (TFTP, USB, or device manager)
  6. 6. Reboot the device to apply the new firmware
  7. 7. After reboot, verify the IOx service is running using 'show iox service' command
  8. 8. Confirm the new firmware version is installed with 'show version'
Caveat Standard firmware upgrade risks apply - ensure configuration backup and plan for brief downtime; test in lab environment before production deployment

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

Fix this in Ios Xe Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
18.0 hours of engineering $3,200
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Scan for this in your stack

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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-2025-20196 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