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OS Command InjectionWeakness · CWE-78

CVE-2025-20220

MEDIUM · 6.0 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-08-14
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
62/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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 Secure Firewall Management Center (FMC) Software and Cisco Secure Firewall Threat Defense (FTD) Software could allow an authenticated, local attacker to execute arbitrary commands on the underlying operating system as root. This vulnerability is due to improper input validation for specific CLI commands. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by injecting operating system commands into a legitimate command. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to escape the restricted command prompt and execute arbitrary commands on the underlying operating system. To successfully exploit this vulnerability, an attacker would need valid Administrator credentials. For more information about vulnerable scenarios, see the Details ["#details"] section of this advisory.

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

Command injection vulnerability in the CLI of Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center (FMC) and Threat Defense (FTD) allows authenticated local attackers with Administrator credentials to escape the restricted command prompt and execute arbitrary OS commands as root due to improper input validation.

MitigationApply Cisco's vendor patches for FMC and FTD; restrict CLI access to trusted Administrator accounts only; audit logs for suspicious command execution patterns.

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

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
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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. Identify product type and version
    Run 'show version' or 'system version' in the FTD CLI, or check FMC web interface under System > About to confirm whether the system is FMC or FTD and note the exact version number
    Affected if The system is Cisco FMC or FTD and the installed version falls within the affected range (compare your version to Cisco's official affected versions list)
  2. Verify CLI access is enabled
    Check if the restricted command CLI interface is accessible via 'expert' mode or 'fxos' mode in FTD, or via SSH/console access to FMC. Confirm the system allows authenticated CLI sessions
    Affected if CLI access is permitted and the system accepts authenticated sessions (the vulnerability requires a valid CLI session)
  3. Check for Administrator-level accounts
    List local user accounts with Administrator privileges: in FTD CLI use 'show user-account' or via FMC web interface go to System > Users > Local User Management to review accounts with Administrator role
    Affected if One or more local Administrator accounts exist (exploitation requires valid Administrator credentials)
  4. Review CLI command logs for anomalies
    Audit system logs and command history for unexpected commands or patterns indicating shell escape attempts. Check '/var/log/messages' or the FMC/FTD audit logs for entries containing shell metacharacters or unusual command sequences
    Affected if Logs show commands originating from the restricted CLI that execute OS-level operations outside the expected command set

User is affected if they run Cisco FMC or FTD with CLI access enabled and have Administrator accounts configured, regardless of version, since the flaw allows any authenticated Administrator to escape the restricted CLI shell.

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 vendor patches for FMC and FTD; restrict CLI access to trusted Administrator accounts only; audit logs for suspicious command execution patterns.

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation3.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
13.0 hours of engineering $2,300
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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-2025-20220 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