Auth bypass in Cisco iOS
CVE-2025-20164
A vulnerability in the Cisco Industrial Ethernet Switch Device Manager (DM) of Cisco IOS Software could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to elevate privileges. This vulnerability is due to insufficient validation of authorizations for authenticated users. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a crafted HTTP request to an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to elevate privileges to privilege level 15. To exploit this vulnerability, the attacker must have valid credentials for a user account with privilege level 5 or higher. Read-only DM users are assigned privilege level 5.
Vulnerability class: Broken Access Control
EPSS: 0.003 (24.4th percentile) — read the EPSS interpretation.
CVSS v3 metric
CVSS v3 base score 8.3 (High). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:H/A:H.
Affected products
- Cisco Ios — versions 15.0(2)SE8, 15.0(2)EA, 15.0(2)EA1
Weakness classification (CWE)
References
Frequently asked questions
- What is CVE-2025-20164?
- CVE-2025-20164 is a high-severity vulnerability in Cisco iOS, classified under Missing Authorization. CVSS score: 8.3/10. Published 2025-05-07.
- How severe is CVE-2025-20164?
- High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 8.3 out of 10.