CVE-2025-20314
Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:HSummary
CVE-2025-20314 is a medium-severity Improper Handling of Undefined Values (CWE-232) vulnerability in Cisco IOS XE (inferred from references). Its CVSS base score is 6.7 (Medium).
Operationally, ranked at the 4th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SI-10 (Information Input Validation) — see the control section below for these in your framework.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2025-31020
Vulnerability Data
A vulnerability in Cisco IOS XE Software could allow an authenticated, local attacker with level-15 privileges or an unauthenticated attacker with physical access to an affected device to execute persistent code at boot time and break the chain of trust.…
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This vulnerability is due to improper validation of software packages. 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 persistent code on the underlying operating system. Because this vulnerability allows an attacker to bypass a major security feature of a device, Cisco has raised the Security Impact Rating (SIR) of this advisory from Medium to High.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Input validation directly rejects or sanitizes undefined/unsupported parameter values before they reach processing logic.
Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI
Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.
Secure SDLC practices directly require proper input validation and error handling for undefined values.
Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI
Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.
Security testing in development can detect missing handling of undefined values before release.
Secure development life cycle requires handling of invalid/undefined inputs during design and coding.
Application security requirements include validation of all parameters and handling of unsupported values.
Secure architecture principles mandate explicit handling of undefined or unsupported states.
Secure coding standards directly require defensive checks for undefined or unsupported parameter values.