Local Privilege Escalation in Cisco IOS XE Software

CVE-2025-20197

Summary

A local privilege escalation vulnerability exists in the CLI of Cisco IOS XE Software. Authenticated users with privilege level 15 can exploit this weakness, which stems from inadequate input validation when executing certain configuration commands. By providing malicious input, an attacker may gain root access to the device's operating system, potentially enabling them to carry out unauthorized actions without detection. It is crucial for administrators to be aware of this vulnerability and apply necessary mitigations, given that an attacker requires configuration mode access to exploit it.

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