CVE-2025-20295
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 · uneditedA vulnerability in the CLI of Cisco UCS Manager Software could allow an authenticated, local attacker with administrative privileges to read or create a file or overwrite any file on the file system of the underlying operating system of an affected device, including system files. This vulnerability is due to insufficient input validation of command arguments supplied by the user. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by authenticating to a device and submitting crafted input to the affected command. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to read or create a file or overwrite any file on the file system of the underlying operating system of the affected device, including system files. To exploit this vulnerability, the attacker must have valid administrative credentials on the affected device.
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 confidenceThis is a local privilege escalation vulnerability in Cisco UCS Manager's CLI where an authenticated administrator can bypass input validation on command arguments to perform arbitrary file operations (read/create/overwrite) on the underlying operating system, including system files. The attacker requires valid admin credentials but gains OS-level file system access beyond the application's intended boundaries.
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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Confirm Cisco UCS Manager is installedIdentify whether Cisco UCS Manager software is running in your environment by checking for UCS Manager processes, services, or the CLI interface accessible on typical management ports.Affected if Cisco UCS Manager is present and the version falls within the affected range (if Cisco has published specific versions).
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Determine the installed UCS Manager versionAccess the UCS Manager CLI or GUI and retrieve the software version information (typically via 'show version' in the CLI or System > Overview in the GUI).Affected if The installed version matches the affected versions listed in Cisco's advisory for CVE-2025-20295.
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Verify CLI administrative access existsConfirm that administrative CLI access is enabled and reachable. Check for exposed SSH or console access to the UCS Manager CLI.Affected if CLI administrative access is available and the environment uses local admin accounts for UCS Manager.
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Audit admin account usage and CLI command historyReview UCS Manager logs, admin authentication records, and CLI command history for unusual or unauthorized administrative actions, especially commands that interact with the underlying operating system.Affected if Evidence exists of admin accounts executing file operations outside the intended UCS Manager functionality.
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Inspect for unexpected file modificationsExamine critical system files and configurations on the UCS Manager host for unexpected changes, creation, or overwrites that were not initiated through normal UCS Manager workflows.Affected if System files show modifications inconsistent with documented administrative activities.
You are affected if Cisco UCS Manager is running and its version is within the affected range; additionally, look for signs of unauthorized file system access from administrative CLI sessions.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 dataApply the Cisco patch when released; enforce least-privilege administrative accounts where possible; audit admin logins and CLI command history for signs of exploitation; consider network segmentation to limit local access vectors.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2025-20295 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2025-20295 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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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.
- 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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