Vulnerability in Cisco Nx-Os Software

CVE-2025-20241

A vulnerability in the Intermediate System-to-Intermediate System (IS-IS) feature of Cisco NX-OS Software for Cisco Nexus 3000 Series Switches and Cisco Nexus 9000 Series Switches in standalone NX-OS mode could allow an unauthenticated, adjacent attacker to cause the IS-IS process to unexpectedly restart, which could cause an affected device to reload. This vulnerability is due to insufficient input validation when parsing an ingress IS-IS packet. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a crafted IS-IS packet to an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause the unexpected restart of the IS-IS process, which could cause the affected device to reload, resulting in a denial of service (DoS) condition. Note: The IS-IS protocol is a routing protocol. To exploit this vulnerability, an attacker must be Layer 2-adjacent to the affected device.

EPSS: 0.003 (18.1th percentile) — read the EPSS interpretation.

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 7.4 (High). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H.

Affected products

Weakness classification (CWE)

Public proof-of-concept exploits

References

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2025-20241?
CVE-2025-20241 is a high-severity vulnerability in Cisco Nx-Os Software, classified under CWE-733. CVSS score: 7.4/10. Published 2025-08-27.
How severe is CVE-2025-20241?
High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 7.4 out of 10.
Is CVE-2025-20241 known to be exploited?
2 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed. Not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.