NULL pointer dereference in Cisco Nx-Os Software

CVE-2025-20262

A vulnerability in the Protocol Independent Multicast Version 6 (PIM6) feature of Cisco Nexus 3000 Series Switches and Cisco Nexus 9000 Series Switches in standalone NX-OS mode could allow an authenticated, low-privileged, remote attacker to trigger a crash of the PIM6 process, resulting in a denial of service (DoS) condition. This vulnerability is due to improper processing of PIM6 ephemeral data queries. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a crafted ephemeral query to an affected device through one of the following methods: NX-API REST, NETCONF, RESTConf, gRPC, or Model Driven Telemetry. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause the PIM6 process to crash and restart, causing potential adjacency flaps and resulting in a DoS of the PIM6 and ephemeral query processes.

EPSS: 0.003 (27.0th percentile) — read the EPSS interpretation.

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 5.0 (Medium). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:L.

Affected products

Weakness classification (CWE)

Public proof-of-concept exploits

References

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2025-20262?
CVE-2025-20262 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Cisco Nx-Os Software, classified under NULL Pointer Dereference. CVSS score: 5.0/10. Published 2025-08-27.
How severe is CVE-2025-20262?
Medium severity. CVSS v3 base score is 5.0 out of 10.
Is CVE-2025-20262 known to be exploited?
1 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed. Not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.