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Ios Xr CVE-2025-20142

HIGH
Improper Input Validation (CWE-20)
2025-03-12 psirt@cisco.com
8.6
CVSS 3.1 · NVD
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Vulnerability Assessment

Weakness
CWE
OWASP Top 10:2025
A05:2025 - Injection
ASVS 5.0
V2 - Validation and Business Logic Input validation, allowlisting
Impact

CVSS score of 8.6 (HIGH). Attack characteristics: network attack vector, low complexity, no privileges required, no user interaction not required. EPSS exploitation probability: 0.33%.

Exploit ScenarioDerived

This vulnerability can be exploited remotely over the network. Successful exploitation could compromise the high-severity affected system.

This Week Schedule remediation this week. Why: HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9).
No patch listed yet 0.3% exploitation probability (EPSS)

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AnalysisAIv1 – Mar 28, 2026

A vulnerability in the IPv4 access control list (ACL) feature and quality of service (QoS) policy feature of Cisco IOS XR Software for Cisco ASR 9000 Series Aggregation Services Routers, ASR 9902. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.6), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.

RemediationAI

No vendor patch is available at time of analysis. Monitor vendor advisories for updates. Apply vendor patches when available. Implement network segmentation and monitoring as interim mitigations.

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 under CWE-20. A vulnerability in the IPv4 access control list (ACL) feature and quality of service (QoS) policy feature of Cisco IOS XR Software for Cisco ASR 9000 Series Aggregation Services Routers, ASR 9902 Compact High-Performance Routers, and ASR 9903 Compact High-Performance Routers could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to cause a line card to reset, resulting in a denial of service (DoS) condition. This vulnerability is due to the incorrect handling of malformed IPv4 packets that are received on line cards where the interface has either an IPv4 ACL or QoS policy applied. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending crafted IPv4 packets through an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause network processor errors, resulting in a reset or shutdown of the network process. Traffic over that line card would be lost while the line card reloads. Note: This vulnerability has predominantly been observed in Layer 2 VPN (L2VPN) environments where an IPv4 ACL or QoS policy has been applied to the bridge virtual interface. Layer 3 configurations where the interface has either an IPv4 ACL or QoS policy applied are also affected, though the vulnerability has not been observed. Affected products include: Cisco Ios Xr.

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Severity by source

NVD PRIMARY 8.6 HIGH
AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H

Primary rating from NVD · only source for this CVE.

CVSS VectorNVD

Attack Vector
Network
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
None
User Interaction
None
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

DescriptionCVE.org

A vulnerability in the IPv4 access control list (ACL) feature and quality of service (QoS) policy feature of Cisco IOS XR Software for Cisco ASR 9000 Series Aggregation Services Routers, ASR 9902 Compact High-Performance Routers, and ASR 9903 Compact High-Performance Routers could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to cause a line card to reset, resulting in a denial of service (DoS) condition.

This vulnerability is due to the incorrect handling of malformed IPv4 packets that are received on line cards where the interface has either an IPv4 ACL or QoS policy applied. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending crafted IPv4 packets through an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause network processor errors, resulting in a reset or shutdown of the network process. Traffic over that line card would be lost while the line card reloads. Note: This vulnerability has predominantly been observed in Layer 2 VPN (L2VPN) environments where an IPv4 ACL or QoS policy has been applied to the bridge virtual interface. Layer 3 configurations where the interface has either an IPv4 ACL or QoS policy applied are also affected, though the vulnerability has not been observed.

Executive ViewAI

Why It Matters

CVE-2025-20142 presents significant security risk, a input validation vulnerability rated CVSS 8.6. Successful exploitation could significantly impact the confidentiality, integrity, or availability of affected systems. Organizations should apply vendor updates when available and consider compensating controls in the interim.

Business Impact: Severe
Compensating Controls

Apply vendor patch. If immediate patching is not feasible: (1) Implement network-level access controls to limit exposure; (2) Enable enhanced monitoring and alerting; (3) Apply principle of least privilege.

Threat Intelligence Overview

EPSS Score
0.3%
Top 44% exploitable
Data Quality
3 sources
Confidence: Low

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.

SignalValue
Severity HIGH
CISA KEV No
Public POC No
EPSS 0.3%
Patch available No
Active threat No
Deciding rule
HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9)
What every action level means
Emergency Immediate action required. Criteria: CRITICAL + in CISA KEV (actively exploited) without patch, OR CRITICAL + EPSS > 30% without patch, OR CRITICAL + active threat signals without patch.
Act Now Prioritize within 24-48h. Criteria: in KEV with patch available, OR CRITICAL + public POC, OR HIGH + EPSS > 10%, OR CRITICAL + active threat, OR any CRITICAL severity.
This Week Schedule remediation this week. Criteria: HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9). Patch within normal change window.
This Month Plan within 30 days. Criteria: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9), lower exploitation probability. Include in regular patch cycle.
Monitor Track and reassess. Criteria: LOW severity (CVSS 0.1-3.9), minimal exploitation risk. No immediate action needed.

SSVC AssessmentENISA

SSVC Decision· derived
Out-of-Cycle
Exploitation· derived
None
System Exposure· derived
Open
Automatable· derived
Yes
Human Impact
Very High

Priority Score

43
Low Medium High Critical
KEV: 0
EPSS: 0
CVSS: +43
PoC: 0
Weaponized: 0
Threat intel: 0
Gov advisory: 0

Attack Technique

Denial of Service attacks render applications or systems unavailable by overwhelming resources or triggering failure conditions.

Affected Products (CPE)CVE.org

cpe:2.3:o:cisco:ios_xr:6.7.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:cisco:ios_xr:6.7.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:cisco:ios_xr:6.7.35:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:cisco:ios_xr:6.8.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:cisco:ios_xr:6.8.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:cisco:ios_xr:6.9.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:cisco:ios_xr:6.9.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:cisco:ios_xr:7.1.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:cisco:ios_xr:7.1.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:cisco:ios_xr:7.1.15:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:cisco:ios_xr:7.1.25:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:cisco:ios_xr:7.3.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:cisco:ios_xr:7.3.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:cisco:ios_xr:7.3.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:cisco:ios_xr:7.3.4:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:cisco:ios_xr:7.3.5:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:cisco:ios_xr:7.4.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:cisco:ios_xr:7.4.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:cisco:ios_xr:7.5.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:cisco:ios_xr:7.5.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
+ 14 more

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