CVE-2025-20177 - CVE House
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Status published Medium CVE-2025-20177

Cisco IOS XR Software Image Verification Bypass Vulnerability

Vulnerability Description

A vulnerability in the boot process of Cisco IOS XR Software could allow an authenticated, local attacker to bypass Cisco IOS XR image signature verification and load unverified software on an affected device. To exploit this vulnerability, the attacker must have root-system privileges on the affected device. This vulnerability is due to incomplete validation of files in the boot verification process. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by manipulating the system configuration options to bypass some of the integrity checks that are performed during the boot process. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to control the boot configuration, which could enable them to bypass the requirement to run Cisco-signed images or alter the security properties of the running system. Note: Because exploitation of this vulnerability could result in the attacker bypassing Cisco image verification, Cisco has raised the Security Impact Rating (SIR) of this advisory from Medium to High.

Impact Analysis

Refer to official advisory for detailed impact metrics.

Remediation

Ensure systems are updated to the latest vendor-supplied patch levels.

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Credits & Attribution

No credits recorded in the NVD database.

References

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Affected Vendor

Affected Software

Cisco IOS XR Software
Vulnerable Versions:
7.0.1, 7.0.0, 7.1.1, 7.0.90, 6.7.1, 7.0.2, 7.1.15, 7.2.0, 7.2.1, 7.1.2, 6.7.2, 7.0.11, 7.0.12, 7.0.14, 7.1.25, 7.2.12, 7.3.1, 7.1.3, 6.7.3, 7.4.1, 7.2.2, 6.7.4, 7.3.15, 7.3.16, 6.8.1, 7.4.15, 7.3.2, 7.5.1, 7.4.16, 7.3.27, 7.6.1, 7.5.2, 7.8.1, 7.6.15, 7.5.12, 7.3.3, 7.7.1, 6.8.2, 7.3.4, 7.4.2, 6.7.35, 6.9.1, 7.6.2, 7.5.3, 7.7.2, 6.9.2, 7.9.1, 7.10.1, 7.8.2, 7.5.4, 7.8.22, 7.7.21, 7.9.2, 7.3.5, 7.5.5, 7.11.1, 7.9.21, 7.10.2, 24.1.1, 7.6.3, 7.3.6, 7.11.2, 24.2.1, 24.1.2, 24.2.11, 24.3.1, 7.8.23

Timeline

Official Publish: March 12th, 2025
Last Modified: February 26th, 2026
Added to House: July 22nd, 2026

CVSS Vectors

V3: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Weaknesses (CWE)

CWE-274

MITRE ATT&CK TTPs

No associated TTPs found for this vulnerability.