Vulnerability Database

383,304

Total vulnerabilities in the database

CVE-2025-20181 — cisco / ios

Improper Verification of Cryptographic Signature

A vulnerability in Cisco IOS Software for Cisco Catalyst 2960X, 2960XR, 2960CX, and 3560CX Series Switches could allow an authenticated, local attacker with privilege level 15 or an unauthenticated attacker with physical access to the device to execute persistent code at boot time and break the chain of trust.

This vulnerability is due to missing signature verification for specific files that may be loaded during the device boot process. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by placing a crafted file into a specific location on an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary code at boot time.

Because this allows the attacker to bypass a major security feature of the device, Cisco has raised the Security Impact Rating (SIR) of this advisory from Medium to High.

  • Published: May 7, 2025
  • Updated: Sep 13, 2026
  • CVE: CVE-2025-20181
  • Severity: Medium
  • Exploit:
  • CISA KEV:

CVSS v3:

  • Severity: Medium
  • Score: 6.8
  • AV:P/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

CWEs:

Software Affected versions
cisco / ios = 15.0(1)ex
cisco / ios = 15.0(1)ey
cisco / ios = 15.0(1)ey1
cisco / ios = 15.0(1)ey2
cisco / ios = 15.0(1)xo
cisco / ios = 15.0(1)xo1
cisco / ios = 15.0(2)ex
cisco / ios = 15.0(2)ex1
cisco / ios = 15.0(2)ex2
cisco / ios = 15.0(2)ex3
cisco / ios = 15.0(2)ex4
cisco / ios = 15.0(2)ex5
cisco / ios = 15.0(2)ex8
cisco / ios = 15.0(2)ex10
cisco / ios = 15.0(2)ex11
cisco / ios = 15.0(2)ex12
cisco / ios = 15.0(2)ex13
cisco / ios = 15.0(2)se8
cisco / ios = 15.0(2)sqd
cisco / ios = 15.0(2)sqd1
cisco / ios = 15.0(2)sqd2
cisco / ios = 15.0(2)sqd3
cisco / ios = 15.0(2)sqd4
cisco / ios = 15.0(2)sqd5
cisco / ios = 15.0(2)sqd6
cisco / ios = 15.0(2)sqd7
cisco / ios = 15.0(2)sqd8
cisco / ios = 15.0(2)xo
cisco / ios = 15.0(2a)ex5
cisco / ios = 15.2(2)e
cisco / ios = 15.2(2)e1
cisco / ios = 15.2(2)e2
cisco / ios = 15.2(2)e3
cisco / ios = 15.2(2)e4
cisco / ios = 15.2(2)e5
cisco / ios = 15.2(2)e5a
cisco / ios = 15.2(2)e5b
cisco / ios = 15.2(2)e6
cisco / ios = 15.2(2)e7
cisco / ios = 15.2(2)e8
cisco / ios = 15.2(2)e9
cisco / ios = 15.2(2)e10
cisco / ios = 15.2(2a)e1
cisco / ios = 15.2(2a)e2
cisco / ios = 15.2(3)e
cisco / ios = 15.2(3)e1
cisco / ios = 15.2(3)e2
cisco / ios = 15.2(3)e3
cisco / ios = 15.2(3)e4
cisco / ios = 15.2(3a)e
cisco / ios = 15.2(4)e
cisco / ios = 15.2(4)e1
cisco / ios = 15.2(4)e2
cisco / ios = 15.2(4)e3
cisco / ios = 15.2(4)e4
cisco / ios = 15.2(4)e5
cisco / ios = 15.2(4)e6
cisco / ios = 15.2(4)e7
cisco / ios = 15.2(4)e8
cisco / ios = 15.2(4)e9
cisco / ios = 15.2(4)e10
cisco / ios = 15.2(4)e10a
cisco / ios = 15.2(4)e10d
cisco / ios = 15.2(4)ea7
cisco / ios = 15.2(4)ea8
cisco / ios = 15.2(4)ea9
cisco / ios = 15.2(4)ea9a
cisco / ios = 15.2(5)e
cisco / ios = 15.2(5)e1
cisco / ios = 15.2(5)e2
cisco / ios = 15.2(5b)e
cisco / ios = 15.2(6)e
cisco / ios = 15.2(6)e0a
cisco / ios = 15.2(6)e0c
cisco / ios = 15.2(6)e1
cisco / ios = 15.2(6)e2
cisco / ios = 15.2(6)e2a
cisco / ios = 15.2(6)e2b
cisco / ios = 15.2(6)e3
cisco / ios = 15.2(6)eb
cisco / ios = 15.2(7)e
cisco / ios = 15.2(7)e0a
cisco / ios = 15.2(7)e0b
cisco / ios = 15.2(7)e0s
cisco / ios = 15.2(7)e1
cisco / ios = 15.2(7)e1a
cisco / ios = 15.2(7)e2
cisco / ios = 15.2(7)e2a
cisco / ios = 15.2(7)e3
cisco / ios = 15.2(7)e3k
cisco / ios = 15.2(7)e4
cisco / ios = 15.2(7)e5
cisco / ios = 15.2(7)e6
cisco / ios = 15.2(7)e7
cisco / ios = 15.2(7)e8
cisco / ios = 15.2(7)e9
cisco / ios = 15.2(7)e10
cisco / ios = 15.2(7a)e0b
cisco / ios = 15.2(7b)e0b
cisco / ios = 15.2(8)e
cisco / ios = 15.2(8)e1
cisco / ios = 15.2(8)e2
cisco / ios = 15.2(8)e3
cisco / ios = 15.2(8)e4
cisco / ios = 15.2(8)e5
cisco / ios = 15.2(8)e6

Frequently Asked Questions

A security vulnerability is a weakness in software, hardware, or configuration that can be exploited to compromise confidentiality, integrity, or availability. Many vulnerabilities are tracked as CVEs (Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures), which provide a standardized identifier so teams can coordinate patching, mitigation, and risk assessment across tools and vendors.

CVSS (Common Vulnerability Scoring System) estimates technical severity, but it doesn't automatically equal business risk. Prioritize using context like internet exposure, affected asset criticality, known exploitation (proof-of-concept or in-the-wild), and whether compensating controls exist. A "Medium" CVSS on an exposed, production system can be more urgent than a "Critical" on an isolated, non-production host.

A vulnerability is the underlying weakness. An exploit is the method or code used to take advantage of it. A zero-day is a vulnerability that is unknown to the vendor or has no publicly available fix when attackers begin using it. In practice, risk increases sharply when exploitation becomes reliable or widespread.

Recurring findings usually come from incomplete Asset Discovery, inconsistent patch management, inherited images, and configuration drift. In modern environments, you also need to watch the software supply chain: dependencies, containers, build pipelines, and third-party services can reintroduce the same weakness even after you patch a single host. Unknown or unmanaged assets (often called Shadow IT) are a common reason the same issues resurface.

Use a simple, repeatable triage model: focus first on externally exposed assets, high-value systems (identity, VPN, email, production), vulnerabilities with known exploits, and issues that enable remote code execution or privilege escalation. Then enforce patch SLAs and track progress using consistent metrics so remediation is steady, not reactive.

SynScan combines attack surface monitoring and continuous security auditing to keep your inventory current, flag high-impact vulnerabilities early, and help you turn raw findings into a practical remediation plan.