CVE-2025-20159
Status: DeferredMedium (5.3)—
A vulnerability in the management interface access control list (ACL) processing feature in Cisco IOS XR Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to bypass configured ACLs for the SSH, NetConf, and gRPC features.
This vulnerability exists because management interface ACLs have not been supported on Cisco IOS XR Software Packet I/O infrastructure platforms for Linux-handled features such as SSH, NetConf, or gRPC. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by attempting to send traffic to an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to bypass an ingress ACL that is applied on the management interface of the affected device.
CVSS
- Version: 3.1
- Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N
- Base score: 5.3
Exploitation probability (EPSS)
- Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days: 0.32%
- Percentile among all scored CVEs: 22
- Score date: 10/6/2026
EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System, FIRST) estimates how likely a vulnerability is to be exploited in the wild within 30 days. It complements CVSS (impact) and CISA KEV (confirmed exploitation).
Affected technologies (1)
⚠ AI-inferred from the description — NVD hasn't analyzed this CVE yet, these aren't verified CPEs.
CWEs
- CWE-284
References
Raw JSON (NVD)
Show
{
"id": "CVE-2025-20159",
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"published": "2025-09-10T16:15:35.880",
"references": [
{
"url": "https://sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-acl-packetio-Swjhhbtz",
"source": "psirt@cisco.com"
}
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"vulnStatus": "Deferred",
"weaknesses": [
{
"type": "Secondary",
"source": "psirt@cisco.com",
"description": [
{
"lang": "en",
"value": "CWE-284"
}
]
}
],
"descriptions": [
{
"lang": "en",
"value": "A vulnerability in the management interface access control list (ACL) processing feature in Cisco IOS XR Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to bypass configured ACLs for the SSH, NetConf, and gRPC features.\r\n\r\nThis vulnerability exists because management interface ACLs have not been supported on Cisco IOS XR Software Packet I/O infrastructure platforms for Linux-handled features such as SSH, NetConf, or gRPC. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by attempting to send traffic to an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to bypass an ingress ACL that is applied on the management interface of the affected device."
},
{
"lang": "es",
"value": "Una vulnerabilidad en la función de procesamiento de listas de control de acceso (ACL) de la interfaz de administración en el software Cisco IOS XR podría permitir a un atacante remoto no autenticado eludir las ACL configuradas para las funciones SSH, NetConf y gRPC.\n\nEsta vulnerabilidad existe porque las ACL de la interfaz de administración no han sido compatibles en las plataformas de infraestructura de E/S de paquetes del software Cisco IOS XR para funciones gestionadas por Linux como SSH, NetConf o gRPC. Un atacante podría explotar esta vulnerabilidad al intentar enviar tráfico a un dispositivo afectado. Un exploit exitoso podría permitir al atacante eludir una ACL de entrada que se aplica en la interfaz de administración del dispositivo afectado."
}
],
"lastModified": "2026-09-26T00:10:00.127",
"sourceIdentifier": "psirt@cisco.com"
}