Application Policy Infrastructure Controller
CVE-2025-20117
MEDIUM
Vulnerability Assessment
| Weakness |
CWE
OWASP Top 10:2025
A05:2025 - Injection
ASVS 5.0
V1 - Encoding and Sanitization Command injection prevention
MITRE ATT&CK
1 technique across 1 tactic: Execution The technique list with ATT&CK links and the kill-chain view is part of the Basic plan and up. |
| Impact | CVSS score of 5.1 (MEDIUM). Attack characteristics: local attack vector, low complexity, high privileges required, no user interaction not required. EPSS exploitation probability: 0.01%. |
| Exploit ScenarioDerived | A local attacker with access to the system could inject arbitrary commands into system command execution. |
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Alert meAnalysisAIv1 – Mar 28, 2026
A vulnerability in the CLI of Cisco APIC could allow an authenticated, local attacker to execute arbitrary commands as root on the underlying operating system of an affected device. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.1), this vulnerability is low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.
RemediationAI
No vendor patch is available at time of analysis. Monitor vendor advisories for updates. Use parameterized APIs, avoid shell execution, validate input with strict allowlists.
Affects your stack
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Checking this CVE against your own stacks and servers is part of the Basic plan and up.
Technical ContextAI · show details
This vulnerability is classified as Command Injection (CWE-77), which allows attackers to inject arbitrary commands into system command execution. A vulnerability in the CLI of Cisco APIC could allow an authenticated, local attacker to execute arbitrary commands as root on the underlying operating system of an affected device. To exploit this vulnerability, the attacker must have valid administrative credentials. This vulnerability is due to insufficient validation of arguments that are passed to specific CLI commands. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by including crafted input as the argument of an affected CLI command. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary commands on the underlying operating system with the privileges of root. Affected products include: Cisco Application Policy Infrastructure Controller.
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- Exploit and PoC references, threat intelligence from 22 sources
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Severity by source
AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:H/A:N
Primary rating from NVD · only source for this CVE.
CVSS VectorNVD
DescriptionCVE.org
A vulnerability in the CLI of Cisco APIC could allow an authenticated, local attacker to execute arbitrary commands as root on the underlying operating system of an affected device. To exploit this vulnerability, the attacker must have valid administrative credentials.
This vulnerability is due to insufficient validation of arguments that are passed to specific CLI commands. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by including crafted input as the argument of an affected CLI command. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary commands on the underlying operating system with the privileges of root.
Executive ViewAI
CVE-2025-20117 presents moderate security risk, a command injection vulnerability rated CVSS 5.1. Exploitation could allow attackers to execute code or inject malicious input. Organizations should apply vendor updates when available and monitor for exploitation.
Apply vendor patch. If patching is delayed: deploy WAF rules, restrict network access, enable logging.
Threat Intelligence Overview
NVD
CVE.org
EPSS
How this decision was reached
The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.
What every action level means
SSVC AssessmentENISA
Priority Score
Attack Technique
OS command injection occurs when an application passes unsanitized user input directly into system shell commands.
Affected Products (CPE)CVE.org
A vulnerability in an API endpoint of Cisco ACI Multi-Site Orchestrator (MSO) installed on the Application Services Engi
Multiple vulnerabilities in Cisco Application Services Engine could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to gain pr
Multiple vulnerabilities in the web UI and API endpoints of Cisco Application Policy Infrastructure Controller (APIC) or
A vulnerability in an API endpoint of Cisco Application Policy Infrastructure Controller (APIC) and Cisco Cloud Applicat
A vulnerability in the web-based management interface of Cisco Application Policy Infrastructure Controller (APIC) and C
A vulnerability in an API endpoint of Cisco Application Policy Infrastructure Controller (APIC) and Cisco Cloud Applicat
A vulnerability in an API endpoint of Cisco Application Policy Infrastructure Controller (APIC) and Cisco Cloud Applicat
A vulnerability in the build procedure for certain executable system files installed at boot time on Cisco Application P
The installation procedure on Cisco Application Policy Infrastructure Controller (APIC) devices 1.3(2f) mishandles binar
A vulnerability in the FUSE filesystem functionality for Cisco Application Policy Infrastructure Controller (APIC) softw
A vulnerability in Cisco Application Policy Infrastructure Controller (APIC) could allow an authenticated, remote attack
The boot manager in Cisco Application Policy Infrastructure Controller (APIC) 1.1(0.920a) allows local users to bypass i
GitHub PoC
Exploit-DB