CVE-2025-20181

May 7, 2025, 6:15 p.m.

6.8
Medium

Description

A vulnerability in Cisco IOS Software for Cisco Catalyst 2960X, 2960XR, 2960CX, and 3560CX Series Switches could allow an authenticated, local attacker with privilege level 15 or an unauthenticated attacker with physical access to the device to execute persistent code at boot time and break the chain of trust. This vulnerability is due to missing signature verification for specific files that may be loaded during the device boot process. 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 arbitrary code at boot time. Because this allows the attacker to bypass a major security feature of the device, Cisco has raised the Security Impact Rating (SIR) of this advisory from Medium to High.

Product(s) Impacted

Vendor Product Versions
Cisco
  • Ios Software
  • Catalyst 2960x
  • Catalyst 2960xr
  • Catalyst 2960cx
  • Catalyst 3560cx
  • *
  • *
  • *
  • *
  • *

Weaknesses

Common security weaknesses mapped to this vulnerability.

CWE-347
Improper Verification of Cryptographic Signature
The product does not verify, or incorrectly verifies, the cryptographic signature for data.

*CPE(s)

Affected systems and software identified for this CVE.

Type Vendor Product Version Update Edition Language Software Edition Target Software Target Hardware Other Information
a cisco ios_software / / / / / / / /
h cisco catalyst_2960x / / / / / / / /
h cisco catalyst_2960xr / / / / / / / /
h cisco catalyst_2960cx / / / / / / / /
h cisco catalyst_3560cx / / / / / / / /

References

https://sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-c2960-3560-sboot-ZtqADrHq

Tags

CWE-347
psirt@cisco.com
2025-05-07
CVE-2025-20181

CVSS Score

6.8 / 10

CVSS Data - 3.0

  • Attack Vector: PHYSICAL
  • Attack Complexity: LOW
  • Privileges Required: NONE
  • Scope: UNCHANGED
  • Confidentiality Impact: HIGH
  • Integrity Impact: HIGH
  • Availability Impact: HIGH

    • CVSS:3.0/AV:P/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

    View Vector String

Timeline

Published: May 7, 2025, 6:15 p.m.
Last Modified: May 7, 2025, 6:15 p.m.

Status : Received

CVE has been recently published to the CVE List and has been received by the NVD.

More info

Source

psirt@cisco.com

*Disclaimer: Some vulnerabilities do not have an associated CPE. To enhance the data, we use AI to infer CPEs based on CVE details. This is an automated process and might not always be accurate.