CVE-2025-20117 | Cisco Application Policy Infrastructure Controller Authenticated Command Injection Vulnerability

A vulnerability in the CLI of Cisco APIC could allow an authenticated, local attacker to execute arbitrary commands as root on the underlying operating system of an affected device. To exploit this vulnerability, the attacker must have valid administrative credentials. This vulnerability is due to insufficient validation of arguments that are passed to specific CLI commands. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by including crafted input as the argument of an affected CLI command. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary commands on the underlying operating system with the privileges of root.

Published: 2025-02-26 Last update: 2025-07-31 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2025-20117 is rated Low Risk (24.5/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.04%). Mandatory action: Monitor for updates and reassess as exploit intelligence or EPSS changes.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2025-20117

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2025-02-27 0.04%

Full EPSS history (1 record total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2025-20117

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
5.1 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:H/A:N Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:H)
They need powerful rights—admin, root, or similar—before this pays off.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:L)
Some sensitive info could get out, but not a total data dump.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.
0.8 4.2 [email protected]
6.7 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:H)
They need powerful rights—admin, root, or similar—before this pays off.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
0.8 5.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2025-20117

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2025-20117

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
cisco application_policy_infrastructure_controller 3.2\(1l\) cpe:2.3:a:cisco:application_policy_infrastructure_controller:3.2\(1l\):*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco application_policy_infrastructure_controller 3.2\(1m\) cpe:2.3:a:cisco:application_policy_infrastructure_controller:3.2\(1m\):*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco application_policy_infrastructure_controller 3.2\(2l\) cpe:2.3:a:cisco:application_policy_infrastructure_controller:3.2\(2l\):*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco application_policy_infrastructure_controller 3.2\(2o\) cpe:2.3:a:cisco:application_policy_infrastructure_controller:3.2\(2o\):*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco application_policy_infrastructure_controller 3.2\(3i\) cpe:2.3:a:cisco:application_policy_infrastructure_controller:3.2\(3i\):*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco application_policy_infrastructure_controller 3.2\(3j\) cpe:2.3:a:cisco:application_policy_infrastructure_controller:3.2\(3j\):*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco application_policy_infrastructure_controller 3.2\(3n\) cpe:2.3:a:cisco:application_policy_infrastructure_controller:3.2\(3n\):*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco application_policy_infrastructure_controller 3.2\(3o\) cpe:2.3:a:cisco:application_policy_infrastructure_controller:3.2\(3o\):*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco application_policy_infrastructure_controller 3.2\(3r\) cpe:2.3:a:cisco:application_policy_infrastructure_controller:3.2\(3r\):*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco application_policy_infrastructure_controller 3.2\(3s\) cpe:2.3:a:cisco:application_policy_infrastructure_controller:3.2\(3s\):*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco application_policy_infrastructure_controller 3.2\(4d\) cpe:2.3:a:cisco:application_policy_infrastructure_controller:3.2\(4d\):*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco application_policy_infrastructure_controller 3.2\(4e\) cpe:2.3:a:cisco:application_policy_infrastructure_controller:3.2\(4e\):*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco application_policy_infrastructure_controller 3.2\(5d\) cpe:2.3:a:cisco:application_policy_infrastructure_controller:3.2\(5d\):*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco application_policy_infrastructure_controller 3.2\(5e\) cpe:2.3:a:cisco:application_policy_infrastructure_controller:3.2\(5e\):*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco application_policy_infrastructure_controller 3.2\(5f\) cpe:2.3:a:cisco:application_policy_infrastructure_controller:3.2\(5f\):*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco application_policy_infrastructure_controller 3.2\(6i\) cpe:2.3:a:cisco:application_policy_infrastructure_controller:3.2\(6i\):*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco application_policy_infrastructure_controller 3.2\(7f\) cpe:2.3:a:cisco:application_policy_infrastructure_controller:3.2\(7f\):*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco application_policy_infrastructure_controller 3.2\(7k\) cpe:2.3:a:cisco:application_policy_infrastructure_controller:3.2\(7k\):*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco application_policy_infrastructure_controller 3.2\(8d\) cpe:2.3:a:cisco:application_policy_infrastructure_controller:3.2\(8d\):*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco application_policy_infrastructure_controller 3.2\(9b\) cpe:2.3:a:cisco:application_policy_infrastructure_controller:3.2\(9b\):*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco application_policy_infrastructure_controller 3.2\(9f\) cpe:2.3:a:cisco:application_policy_infrastructure_controller:3.2\(9f\):*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco application_policy_infrastructure_controller 3.2\(9h\) cpe:2.3:a:cisco:application_policy_infrastructure_controller:3.2\(9h\):*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco application_policy_infrastructure_controller 3.2\(10e\) cpe:2.3:a:cisco:application_policy_infrastructure_controller:3.2\(10e\):*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco application_policy_infrastructure_controller 3.2\(10f\) cpe:2.3:a:cisco:application_policy_infrastructure_controller:3.2\(10f\):*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco application_policy_infrastructure_controller 3.2\(10g\) cpe:2.3:a:cisco:application_policy_infrastructure_controller:3.2\(10g\):*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco application_policy_infrastructure_controller 3.2\(41d\) cpe:2.3:a:cisco:application_policy_infrastructure_controller:3.2\(41d\):*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco application_policy_infrastructure_controller 4.0\(1h\) cpe:2.3:a:cisco:application_policy_infrastructure_controller:4.0\(1h\):*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco application_policy_infrastructure_controller 4.0\(2c\) cpe:2.3:a:cisco:application_policy_infrastructure_controller:4.0\(2c\):*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco application_policy_infrastructure_controller 4.0\(3c\) cpe:2.3:a:cisco:application_policy_infrastructure_controller:4.0\(3c\):*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco application_policy_infrastructure_controller 4.0\(3d\) cpe:2.3:a:cisco:application_policy_infrastructure_controller:4.0\(3d\):*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco application_policy_infrastructure_controller 4.1\(1a\) cpe:2.3:a:cisco:application_policy_infrastructure_controller:4.1\(1a\):*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco application_policy_infrastructure_controller 4.1\(1i\) cpe:2.3:a:cisco:application_policy_infrastructure_controller:4.1\(1i\):*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco application_policy_infrastructure_controller 4.1\(1j\) cpe:2.3:a:cisco:application_policy_infrastructure_controller:4.1\(1j\):*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco application_policy_infrastructure_controller 4.1\(1k\) cpe:2.3:a:cisco:application_policy_infrastructure_controller:4.1\(1k\):*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco application_policy_infrastructure_controller 4.1\(1l\) cpe:2.3:a:cisco:application_policy_infrastructure_controller:4.1\(1l\):*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco application_policy_infrastructure_controller 4.1\(2g\) cpe:2.3:a:cisco:application_policy_infrastructure_controller:4.1\(2g\):*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco application_policy_infrastructure_controller 4.1\(2m\) cpe:2.3:a:cisco:application_policy_infrastructure_controller:4.1\(2m\):*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco application_policy_infrastructure_controller 4.1\(2o\) cpe:2.3:a:cisco:application_policy_infrastructure_controller:4.1\(2o\):*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco application_policy_infrastructure_controller 4.1\(2s\) cpe:2.3:a:cisco:application_policy_infrastructure_controller:4.1\(2s\):*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco application_policy_infrastructure_controller 4.1\(2u\) cpe:2.3:a:cisco:application_policy_infrastructure_controller:4.1\(2u\):*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco application_policy_infrastructure_controller 4.1\(2w\) cpe:2.3:a:cisco:application_policy_infrastructure_controller:4.1\(2w\):*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco application_policy_infrastructure_controller 4.1\(2x\) cpe:2.3:a:cisco:application_policy_infrastructure_controller:4.1\(2x\):*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco application_policy_infrastructure_controller 4.2\(1g\) cpe:2.3:a:cisco:application_policy_infrastructure_controller:4.2\(1g\):*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco application_policy_infrastructure_controller 4.2\(1i\) cpe:2.3:a:cisco:application_policy_infrastructure_controller:4.2\(1i\):*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco application_policy_infrastructure_controller 4.2\(1j\) cpe:2.3:a:cisco:application_policy_infrastructure_controller:4.2\(1j\):*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco application_policy_infrastructure_controller 4.2\(1l\) cpe:2.3:a:cisco:application_policy_infrastructure_controller:4.2\(1l\):*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco application_policy_infrastructure_controller 4.2\(2e\) cpe:2.3:a:cisco:application_policy_infrastructure_controller:4.2\(2e\):*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco application_policy_infrastructure_controller 4.2\(2f\) cpe:2.3:a:cisco:application_policy_infrastructure_controller:4.2\(2f\):*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco application_policy_infrastructure_controller 4.2\(2g\) cpe:2.3:a:cisco:application_policy_infrastructure_controller:4.2\(2g\):*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco application_policy_infrastructure_controller 4.2\(3j\) cpe:2.3:a:cisco:application_policy_infrastructure_controller:4.2\(3j\):*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco application_policy_infrastructure_controller 4.2\(3l\) cpe:2.3:a:cisco:application_policy_infrastructure_controller:4.2\(3l\):*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco application_policy_infrastructure_controller 4.2\(3n\) cpe:2.3:a:cisco:application_policy_infrastructure_controller:4.2\(3n\):*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco application_policy_infrastructure_controller 4.2\(3q\) cpe:2.3:a:cisco:application_policy_infrastructure_controller:4.2\(3q\):*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco application_policy_infrastructure_controller 4.2\(4i\) cpe:2.3:a:cisco:application_policy_infrastructure_controller:4.2\(4i\):*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco application_policy_infrastructure_controller 4.2\(4k\) cpe:2.3:a:cisco:application_policy_infrastructure_controller:4.2\(4k\):*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco application_policy_infrastructure_controller 4.2\(4o\) cpe:2.3:a:cisco:application_policy_infrastructure_controller:4.2\(4o\):*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco application_policy_infrastructure_controller 4.2\(4p\) cpe:2.3:a:cisco:application_policy_infrastructure_controller:4.2\(4p\):*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco application_policy_infrastructure_controller 4.2\(5k\) cpe:2.3:a:cisco:application_policy_infrastructure_controller:4.2\(5k\):*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco application_policy_infrastructure_controller 4.2\(5l\) cpe:2.3:a:cisco:application_policy_infrastructure_controller:4.2\(5l\):*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco application_policy_infrastructure_controller 4.2\(5n\) cpe:2.3:a:cisco:application_policy_infrastructure_controller:4.2\(5n\):*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco application_policy_infrastructure_controller 4.2\(6d\) cpe:2.3:a:cisco:application_policy_infrastructure_controller:4.2\(6d\):*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco application_policy_infrastructure_controller 4.2\(6g\) cpe:2.3:a:cisco:application_policy_infrastructure_controller:4.2\(6g\):*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco application_policy_infrastructure_controller 4.2\(6h\) cpe:2.3:a:cisco:application_policy_infrastructure_controller:4.2\(6h\):*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco application_policy_infrastructure_controller 4.2\(6l\) cpe:2.3:a:cisco:application_policy_infrastructure_controller:4.2\(6l\):*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco application_policy_infrastructure_controller 4.2\(6o\) cpe:2.3:a:cisco:application_policy_infrastructure_controller:4.2\(6o\):*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco application_policy_infrastructure_controller 4.2\(7f\) cpe:2.3:a:cisco:application_policy_infrastructure_controller:4.2\(7f\):*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco application_policy_infrastructure_controller 4.2\(7l\) cpe:2.3:a:cisco:application_policy_infrastructure_controller:4.2\(7l\):*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco application_policy_infrastructure_controller 4.2\(7q\) cpe:2.3:a:cisco:application_policy_infrastructure_controller:4.2\(7q\):*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco application_policy_infrastructure_controller 4.2\(7r\) cpe:2.3:a:cisco:application_policy_infrastructure_controller:4.2\(7r\):*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco application_policy_infrastructure_controller 4.2\(7s\) cpe:2.3:a:cisco:application_policy_infrastructure_controller:4.2\(7s\):*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco application_policy_infrastructure_controller 4.2\(7t\) cpe:2.3:a:cisco:application_policy_infrastructure_controller:4.2\(7t\):*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco application_policy_infrastructure_controller 4.2\(7u\) cpe:2.3:a:cisco:application_policy_infrastructure_controller:4.2\(7u\):*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco application_policy_infrastructure_controller 4.2\(7v\) cpe:2.3:a:cisco:application_policy_infrastructure_controller:4.2\(7v\):*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco application_policy_infrastructure_controller 4.2\(7w\) cpe:2.3:a:cisco:application_policy_infrastructure_controller:4.2\(7w\):*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco application_policy_infrastructure_controller 5.0\(1k\) cpe:2.3:a:cisco:application_policy_infrastructure_controller:5.0\(1k\):*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco application_policy_infrastructure_controller 5.0\(1l\) cpe:2.3:a:cisco:application_policy_infrastructure_controller:5.0\(1l\):*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco application_policy_infrastructure_controller 5.0\(2e\) cpe:2.3:a:cisco:application_policy_infrastructure_controller:5.0\(2e\):*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco application_policy_infrastructure_controller 5.0\(2h\) cpe:2.3:a:cisco:application_policy_infrastructure_controller:5.0\(2h\):*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco application_policy_infrastructure_controller 5.1\(1h\) cpe:2.3:a:cisco:application_policy_infrastructure_controller:5.1\(1h\):*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco application_policy_infrastructure_controller 5.1\(2e\) cpe:2.3:a:cisco:application_policy_infrastructure_controller:5.1\(2e\):*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2025-20117

cvelogic Threat Intelligence