CVE-2025-20188

Exp

A vulnerability in the Out-of-Band Access Point (AP) Image Download, the Clean Air Spectral Recording, and the client debug bundles features of Cisco IOS XE Software for Wireless LAN Controllers (WLCs) could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to upload arbitrary files to an affected system. This vulnerability is due to the presence of a hard-coded JSON Web Token (JWT) on an affected system. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending crafted HTTPS requests to the AP file upload interface. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to upload files, perform path traversal, and execute arbitrary commands with root privileges.

Published: 2025-05-07 Last update: 2025-06-23 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Analyzed，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2025-20188 is rated High Exploit Risk (87/100): CVSS Critical severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 4.62%). 1 public exploit reference(s) are indexed (Exploit-DB). Public exploits are available—assess exposure, apply mitigations, and prioritize patching.

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

Public exploit references (Exploit-DB) for CVE-2025-20188

EDB-ID Source Kind Published Link
— nvd_ref exploit_tag Exploit-DB ↗

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2025-20188

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 2026-05-16 3.92% 4.62% +0.70%
2 2026-03-25 3.39% 3.92% +0.53%
3 2026-03-03 — 3.39% —

Full EPSS history (41 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2025-20188

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
10.0 3.1 CRITICAL
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
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:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:C)
Breaking this can reach past the original component and bite other resources—bigger blast radius.
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.
 3.9 6.0 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2025-20188

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2025-20188

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
cisco ios_xe 17.11.1 cpe:2.3:o:cisco:ios_xe:17.11.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
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 17.12.2 cpe:2.3:o:cisco:ios_xe:17.12.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco ios_xe 17.12.3 cpe:2.3:o:cisco:ios_xe:17.12.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco ios_xe 17.13.1 cpe:2.3:o:cisco:ios_xe:17.13.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco ios_xe 17.14.1 cpe:2.3:o:cisco:ios_xe:17.14.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2025-20188

cvelogic Threat Intelligence