Vulnerability · Published May 7, 2025 · Assigned by cisco
CVE-2025-20188
Critical 10.0
In plain English
A critical-severity hard-coded credentials in Cisco IOS XE Software from Cisco. Proof-of-concept exploit code is public. The chance it is exploited in the next 30 days is estimated at 27.5% (higher than 98% of all known vulnerabilities). Ready-made attack tooling exists: Nuclei.
Official description
A vulnerability in the Out-of-Band Access Point (AP) Image Download, the Clean Air Spectral Recording, and the client debug bundles features of Cisco IOS XE Software for Wireless LAN Controllers (WLCs) could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to upload arbitrary files to an affected system. This vulnerability is due to the presence of a hard-coded JSON Web Token (JWT) on an affected system. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending crafted HTTPS requests to the AP file upload interface. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to upload files, perform path traversal, and execute arbitrary commands with root privileges.
Affected products (as reported)
| Vendor | Product | Versions |
|---|---|---|
| Cisco | Cisco IOS XE Software | 17.11.117.12.117.12.217.12.317.13.117.14.117.11.99SW |
Weakness: CWE-798 · Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H