A vulnerability in the software upgrade process of Cisco Nexus 3000 Series Switches and Cisco Nexus 9000 Series Switches in standalone NX-OS mode could allow an authenticated, local attacker with valid Administrator credentials to execute a command injection attack on the underlying operating system of an affected device. This vulnerability is due to insufficient validation of specific elements within a software image. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by installing a crafted image. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary commands on the underlying operating system with root privileges. Note: Administrators should validate the hash of any software image before installation.
Conclusion & alert: CVE-2025-20161 is rated Low Risk (25.9/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.05%). 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.
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 | 2026-04-20 | 0.05% | 0.05% | +0.01% |
| 2 | 2025-12-23 | 0.13% | 0.05% | -0.08% |
| 3 | 2025-08-06 | — | 0.13% | — |
Full EPSS history (11 records total)
CVSS metrics for this CVE.
| Base score | Version | Severity | Vector | Exploitability | Impact | Score source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5.1 | 3.1 | MEDIUM |
|
0.8 | 4.2 | [email protected] |
| Vendor | Product | Version | Raw CPE |
|---|---|---|---|
| No affected products in dataset. | |||