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.

Metrics

No CVSS v4.0

Attack Vector Local

Attack Complexity Low

Privileges Required High

Scope Unchanged

Confidentiality Impact High

Integrity Impact High

Availability Impact High

User Interaction None

No CVSS v3.0

No CVSS v2

This CVE is not in the KEV list.

No EPSS score available.

Exploitation none

Automatable no

Technical Impact total

Affected Vendors & Products

No data.

No data.

No data.

No data.

Fixes

Solution

No solution given by the vendor.

Workaround

No workaround given by the vendor.

References
Link Providers
https://sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-secboot-UqFD8AvC cve-icon cve-icon
History

Wed, 24 Sep 2025 18:15:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Metrics ssvc

{'options': {'Automatable': 'no', 'Exploitation': 'none', 'Technical Impact': 'total'}, 'version': '2.0.3'}

Wed, 24 Sep 2025 18:00:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Description 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.
Weaknesses CWE-232
References
Metrics cvssV3_1

{'score': 6.7, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H'}
cve-icon MITRE

Status: PUBLISHED

Assigner: cisco

Published:

Updated: 2025-09-25T03:56:03.601Z

Reserved: 2024-10-10T19:15:13.253Z

Link: CVE-2025-20314

cve-icon Vulnrichment

Updated: 2025-09-24T18:06:08.648Z

cve-icon NVD

Status : Received

Published: 2025-09-24T18:15:35.790

Modified: 2025-09-24T18:15:35.790

Link: CVE-2025-20314

cve-icon Redhat

No data.

cve-icon OpenCVE Enrichment

No data.