A vulnerability in the CLI of Cisco IOS XR Software could allow an authenticated, local attacker to execute arbitrary commands as root on the underlying operating system of an affected device. This vulnerability is due to insufficient validation of user arguments that are passed to specific CLI commands. An attacker with a low-privileged account could exploit this vulnerability by using crafted commands at the prompt. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to elevate privileges to root and execute arbitrary commands.
Conclusion & alert: CVE-2025-20138 is rated Moderate Risk (46.5/100): CVSS High severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.13%). Mandatory action: Review affected assets and schedule remediation.
Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.
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 | 2026-04-24 | 0.15% | 0.13% | -0.02% |
| 2 | 2026-04-20 | 0.04% | 0.15% | +0.11% |
| 3 | 2026-02-09 | — | 0.04% | — |
Full EPSS history (11 records total)
CVSS metrics for this CVE.
| Base score | Version | Severity | Vector | Exploitability | Impact | Score source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8.8 | 3.1 | HIGH |
|
2.0 | 6.0 | [email protected] |
| URL | Tags |
|---|---|
| https://blog.apnic.net/2024/09/02/crafting-endless-as-paths-in-bgp/ | Technical Description |
| https://sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-iosxr-priv-esc-GFQjxvOF | Vendor Advisory |