CVE-2025-20155

A vulnerability in the bootstrap loading of Cisco IOS XE Software could allow an authenticated, local attacker to write arbitrary files to an affected system. This vulnerability is due to insufficient input validation of the bootstrap file that is read by the system software when a device is first deployed in SD-WAN mode or when an administrator configures SD-Routing on the device. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by modifying a bootstrap file generated by Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Manager, loading it into the device flash, and then either reloading the device in a green field deployment in SD-WAN mode or configuring the device with SD-Routing. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to perform arbitrary file writes to the underlying operating system.

Published: 2025-05-07 Last update: 2026-06-17 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Analyzed，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2025-20155 is rated Low Risk (34.6/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.11%). 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-2025-20155

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 2026-03-03 0.01% 0.11% +0.10%
2 2025-05-08 — 0.01% —

Full EPSS history (2 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2025-20155

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
6.0 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/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: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:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.
 0.8 5.2 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2025-20155

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2025-20155

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
cisco ios_xe 17.9.4 cpe:2.3:o:cisco:ios_xe:17.9.4:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco ios_xe 17.9.4a cpe:2.3:o:cisco:ios_xe:17.9.4a:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco ios_xe 17.9.5 cpe:2.3:o:cisco:ios_xe:17.9.5:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco ios_xe 17.9.5a cpe:2.3:o:cisco:ios_xe:17.9.5a:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco ios_xe 17.9.5b cpe:2.3:o:cisco:ios_xe:17.9.5b:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco ios_xe 17.9.5e cpe:2.3:o:cisco:ios_xe:17.9.5e:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco ios_xe 17.9.5f cpe:2.3:o:cisco:ios_xe:17.9.5f:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco ios_xe 17.9.6 cpe:2.3:o:cisco:ios_xe:17.9.6:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco ios_xe 17.9.6a cpe:2.3:o:cisco:ios_xe:17.9.6a:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco ios_xe 17.11.99sw cpe:2.3:o:cisco:ios_xe:17.11.99sw:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco ios_xe 17.12.1 cpe:2.3:o:cisco:ios_xe:17.12.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco ios_xe 17.12.1a cpe:2.3:o:cisco:ios_xe:17.12.1a:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco ios_xe 17.12.1w cpe:2.3:o:cisco:ios_xe:17.12.1w:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco ios_xe 17.12.1x cpe:2.3:o:cisco:ios_xe:17.12.1x:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco ios_xe 17.12.1y cpe:2.3:o:cisco:ios_xe:17.12.1y:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco ios_xe 17.12.1z cpe:2.3:o:cisco:ios_xe:17.12.1z:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco ios_xe 17.12.1z1 cpe:2.3:o:cisco:ios_xe:17.12.1z1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco ios_xe 17.12.2 cpe:2.3:o:cisco:ios_xe:17.12.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco ios_xe 17.12.2a cpe:2.3:o:cisco:ios_xe:17.12.2a:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco ios_xe 17.12.3 cpe:2.3:o:cisco:ios_xe:17.12.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco ios_xe 17.12.3a cpe:2.3:o:cisco:ios_xe:17.12.3a:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco ios_xe 17.12.4 cpe:2.3:o:cisco:ios_xe:17.12.4:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco ios_xe 17.12.4a cpe:2.3:o:cisco:ios_xe:17.12.4a:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco ios_xe 17.12.4b cpe:2.3:o:cisco:ios_xe:17.12.4b:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco ios_xe 17.13.1 cpe:2.3:o:cisco:ios_xe:17.13.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco ios_xe 17.13.1a cpe:2.3:o:cisco:ios_xe:17.13.1a:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco ios_xe 17.14.1 cpe:2.3:o:cisco:ios_xe:17.14.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco ios_xe 17.14.1a cpe:2.3:o:cisco:ios_xe:17.14.1a:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2025-20155

cvelogic Threat Intelligence