Vulnerability in Cisco Catalyst 2960cx-8pc-L

CVE-2025-20181

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.

EPSS: 0.002 (7.8th percentile) — read the EPSS interpretation.

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 6.8 (Medium). Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:P/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.

Affected products

Weakness classification (CWE)

Public proof-of-concept exploits

References

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2025-20181?
CVE-2025-20181 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Cisco Catalyst 2960cx-8pc-L, classified under Improper Verification of Cryptographic Signature. CVSS score: 6.8/10. Published 2025-05-07.
How severe is CVE-2025-20181?
Medium severity. CVSS v3 base score is 6.8 out of 10.
Is CVE-2025-20181 known to be exploited?
1 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed. Not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.