CVE-2025-20338
MEDIUMDescription
A vulnerability in the CLI of Cisco IOS XE Software could allow an authenticated, local attacker with administrative privileges to execute arbitrary commands as root on the underlying operating system of an affected device. This vulnerability is due to insufficient validation of user arguments that are passed to specific CLI commands. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by logging in to the device CLI with valid administrative (level 15) credentials and using crafted commands at the CLI prompt. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary commands as root.
CVSS v3.1 Score
6.0
MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N
Weakness Type (CWE)
CWE-141
CWE-141
Affected Products
| Vendor | Product |
|---|---|
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
| cisco | ios_xe |
References
Frequently Asked Questions
What is CVE-2025-20338? +
A vulnerability in the CLI of Cisco IOS XE Software could allow an authenticated, local attacker with administrative privileges to execute arbitrary commands as root on the underlying operating system of an affected device.
This vulnerability is due to insufficient validation of user arguments that are passed to specific CLI commands. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by logging in to the device CLI with valid administrative (level 15) credentials and using crafted commands at the CLI prompt. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary commands as root. It has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 6.0 (MEDIUM).
How severe is CVE-2025-20338? +
CVE-2025-20338 has a CVSS v3.1 score of 6.0 out of 10, rated MEDIUM. This is a medium-severity vulnerability that should be remediated as part of regular maintenance.
What products are affected by CVE-2025-20338? +
CVE-2025-20338 affects products from cisco, specifically: ios_xe. Check the affected products table above for specific version ranges.
How do I check if I'm vulnerable to CVE-2025-20338? +
You can use Secably's free Website Scanner to check your website for known vulnerabilities. For infrastructure scanning, use the Port Scanner to identify exposed services that may be affected. Check the vendor advisories linked above for specific patch and version information.
Related Vulnerabilities
CVE-2023-28815
9.8
Some versions of Hikvision's iSecure Center Product contain insufficient parameter validation, resulting in a command injection vulnerability. Attackers may exploit …
CVE-2024-0840
8.8
The Grandstream UCM Series IP PBX before firmware version 1.0.20.52 is affected by a parameter injection vulnerability in the HTTP …
CVE-2025-31329
6.2
SAP NetWeaver is vulnerable to an Information Disclosure vulnerability caused by the injection of malicious instructions into user configuration settings. …
CVE-2025-20188
10.0
A vulnerability in the Out-of-Band Access Point (AP) Image Download, the Clean Air Spectral Recording, and the client debug bundles …
CVE-2025-20282
10.0
A vulnerability in an internal API of Cisco ISE and Cisco ISE-PIC could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to upload …
CVE-2025-20309
10.0
A vulnerability in Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Unified CM) and Cisco Unified Communications Manager Session Management Edition (Unified CM SME) …