dbcve.org
Ios XeOperating system · Cisco

CVE-2025-20198

HIGH · 8.2 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-05-07
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
84/100
Remediation priority · High
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 CLI of Cisco IOS XE Software could allow an authenticated, local attacker with privilege level 15 to elevate privileges to root on the underlying operating system of an affected device. This vulnerability is due to insufficient input validation when processing specific configuration commands. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by including crafted input in specific configuration commands. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to elevate privileges to root on the underlying operating system of an affected device. The security impact rating (SIR) of this advisory has been raised to High because an attacker could gain access to the underlying operating system of the affected device and perform potentially undetected actions. Note: The attacker must have privileges to enter configuration mode on the affected device. This is usually referred to as privilege level 15.

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 local privilege escalation vulnerability in Cisco IOS XE Software CLI allows an authenticated attacker with privilege level 15 to gain root access on the underlying OS by submitting crafted input in specific configuration commands. The vulnerability stems from insufficient input validation during configuration command processing.

MitigationApply Cisco's official patch when available; restrict physical and console access to devices; monitor for unauthorized privilege escalation attempts.

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:= 3.7.0e= 3.7.1e= 3.7.2e= 3.7.3e= 3.7.4e= 3.7.5e= 3.8.0e= 3.8.1e= 3.8.2e= 3.8.3e= 3.8.4e= 3.8.5ae

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
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
High
User interaction
None
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/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. Identify IOS XE version
    Execute 'show version' on the device CLI and locate the version string (e.g., 'Version 3.7.0e' or similar)
    Affected if The displayed version matches one of: 3.7.0e, 3.7.1e, 3.7.2e, 3.7.3e, 3.7.4e, 3.7.5e, 3.8.0e, 3.8.1e, 3.8.2e, 3.8.3e, 3.8.4e, 3.8.5ae
  2. Confirm privilege level 15 access exists
    Execute 'show privilege' or 'show users' to identify accounts with privilege level 15 (full administrative rights)
    Affected if Any user account has privilege level 15 configured, providing the attacker with the minimum required access for this vulnerability
  3. Review configuration for unexpected commands
    Execute 'show running-config' or 'show startup-config' and search for any recently added or suspicious configuration commands, especially in configuration modes
    Affected if Unexpected or unrecognized configuration commands appear that were not authored by your organization
  4. Audit user accounts and roles
    Execute 'show users' and 'show privilege' to enumerate all active sessions and their privilege levels, then cross-reference with 'show running-config | include username' to list all configured local accounts
    Affected if Unexpected local user accounts exist, or active sessions show privilege levels other than what is expected for your administrative team
  5. Examine system logs for escalation attempts
    Review logs via 'show logging' or access the system log buffer for entries around privilege escalation, particularly from the console or VTY lines
    Affected if Log entries show privilege escalation events, unexpected command executions, or authentication anomalies indicating exploitation attempts

The device is affected if it runs a matching IOS XE version AND has any privilege level 15 accounts configured, regardless of whether exploitation has occurred.

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 Cisco's official patch when available; restrict physical and console access to devices; monitor for unauthorized privilege escalation attempts.

Fix this in Ios Xe Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation8.0 h
  • Implementation16.0 h
  • Testing12.0 h
  • Review / QA8.0 h
44.0 hours of engineering $7,720
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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-2025-20198 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