A vulnerability in Cisco IOS XE Software could allow an authenticated, local attacker with level-15 privileges or an unauthenticated attacker with physical access to an affected device to execute persistent code at boot time and break the chain of trust. This vulnerability is due to improper validation of software packages. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by placing a crafted file into a specific location on an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute persistent code on the underlying operating system. Because this vulnerability allows an attacker to bypass a major security feature of a device, Cisco has raised the Security Impact Rating (SIR) of this advisory from Medium to High.
Conclusion & alert: CVE-2025-20314 is rated Low Risk (33.3/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.06%). 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 | 2025-09-25 | — | 0.06% | — |
Full EPSS history (1 record total)
CVSS metrics for this CVE.
| Base score | Version | Severity | Vector | Exploitability | Impact | Score source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6.7 | 3.1 | MEDIUM |
|
0.8 | 5.9 | [email protected] |
| Vendor | Product | Version | Raw CPE |
|---|---|---|---|
| No affected products in dataset. | |||