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Secure Firewall Management CenterApplication · Cisco

CVE-2025-20265

CRITICAL · 10.0 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 →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
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 RADIUS subsystem implementation of Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center (FMC) Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to inject arbitrary shell commands that are executed by the device.  This vulnerability is due to a lack of proper handling of user input during the authentication phase. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending crafted input when entering credentials that will be authenticated at the configured RADIUS server. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute commands at a high privilege level. Note: For this vulnerability to be exploited, Cisco Secure FMC Software must be configured for RADIUS authentication for the web-based management interface, SSH management, or both.

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 command injection vulnerability exists in the RADIUS authentication subsystem of Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center. Attackers can inject arbitrary shell commands through crafted credential input during RADIUS authentication. Since authentication processing runs with high privilege, successful exploitation grants the attacker root-level command execution on the FMC device.

MitigationDisable RADIUS authentication for web and SSH management interfaces until Cisco releases an official patch. Alternatively, use local authentication as an interim measure.

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
Secure Firewall Management CenterApplication
Affected:= 7.0.7= 7.7.0

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
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/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 the FMC version
    Log into the FMC CLI and run 'show version' or access the web interface under System > Troubleshooting > General > Software Version to view the installed software version
    Affected if The installed version is exactly 7.0.7 or 7.7.0
  2. Check RADIUS authentication status
    In the FMC web interface, navigate to System > Authentication to view the authentication configuration, or use the CLI command 'show running-config aaa' to see which authentication methods are enabled
    Affected if RADIUS authentication is enabled for any management interface (web or SSH)
  3. Verify RADIUS server configuration
    Access the RADIUS server objects via the web interface at Object > AAA Servers > RADIUS to see if any RADIUS servers are defined and configured
    Affected if One or more RADIUS servers are configured and active for authentication

You are affected if your FMC runs version 7.0.7 or 7.7.0 AND has RADIUS authentication enabled for web or SSH management access.

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

Disable RADIUS authentication for web and SSH management interfaces until Cisco releases an official patch. Alternatively, use local authentication as an interim measure.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Contact Cisco TAC for the fixed release (likely 7.0.8, 7.7.1 or later)

  1. 1. Verify current FMC version by logging into the web interface or running 'show version' via SSH
  2. 2. Confirm RADIUS authentication is enabled by navigating to System > Users > User Management > RADIUS in the FMC web interface
  3. 3. Contact Cisco TAC or check Cisco Security Advisory cisco-sa-fmc-radius-cmdinj for the specific fixed software version
  4. 4. Download the fixed FMC software version from Cisco Software Download Center (software.cisco.com)
  5. 5. Plan maintenance window - schedule during low-traffic period as FMC will be temporarily unavailable during upgrade
  6. 6. Back up FMC configuration via System > Tools > Backup/Restore before upgrading
  7. 7. Upgrade FMC to the fixed version following Cisco upgrade guide documentation
  8. 8. After upgrade, verify RADIUS authentication still functions correctly
Caveat Review Cisco FMC upgrade guide for compatibility requirements; some upgrades may require intermediate version steps

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

Fix this in Secure Firewall Management Center Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
15.0 hours of engineering $2,580
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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-2025-20265 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data