Cyber Resilience

CVE-2025-20315

Published
24 September 2025
Modified
15 April 2026
CVSS Score v3.1 8.6
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H
EPSS Score 0.0041 34th percentile
Risk Priority 61 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2025-20315 is a high-severity Buffer Access with Incorrect Length Value (CWE-805) vulnerability in Cisco IOS XE (inferred from references). Its CVSS base score is 8.6 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Privilege Escalation (T1068); ranked at the 34th 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 SA-11 (Developer Testing and Evaluation) and SA-8 (Security and Privacy Engineering Principles) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary

Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.

CVE-2025-20315 is a vulnerability in the Network-Based Application Recognition (NBAR) feature of Cisco IOS XE Software. The issue stems from improper handling of malformed Control and Provisioning of Wireless Access Points (CAPWAP) packets, which could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to cause an affected device to reload and trigger a denial of service (DoS) condition. Published on 2025-09-24, it has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 8.6 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H) and is linked to CWE-805.

An unauthenticated, remote attacker can exploit this vulnerability by sending malformed CAPWAP packets through an affected device. Successful exploitation causes the device to reload unexpectedly, resulting in a DoS condition that disrupts network services.

The Cisco Security Advisory provides details on mitigation and affected versions at https://sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-nbar-dos-LAvwTmeT.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

A vulnerability in the Network-Based Application Recognition (NBAR) feature of Cisco IOS XE Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to cause an affected device to reload, causing a denial of service (DoS) condition. This vulnerability is due to improper…

more

handling of malformed Control and Provisioning of Wireless Access Points (CAPWAP) packets. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending malformed CAPWAP packets through an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause the device to reload unexpectedly, resulting in a DoS condition.

CWE(s)
CWE-805

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1068 Exploitation for Privilege Escalation Privilege Escalation
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to elevate privileges.
attack.mitre.org →
T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Access
Adversaries may attempt to exploit a weakness in an Internet-facing host or system to initially access a network.
attack.mitre.org →
T1203 Exploitation for Client Execution Execution
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in client applications to execute code.
attack.mitre.org →
T1210 Exploitation of Remote Services Lateral Movement
Adversaries may exploit remote services to gain unauthorized access to internal systems once inside of a network.
attack.mitre.org →
T1212 Exploitation for Credential Access Credential Access
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to collect credentials.
attack.mitre.org →
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2026-12549Shared CWE-805
CVE-2026-20033Shared CWE-805
CVE-2025-7048Shared CWE-805
CVE-2025-36461Shared CWE-805
CVE-2023-5396Shared CWE-805
CVE-2025-20202Shared CWE-805
CVE-2026-0716Shared CWE-805
CVE-2026-6245Shared CWE-805
CVE-2026-1767Shared CWE-805
CVE-2025-36462Shared CWE-805

Affected Assets

Cisco
IOS XE
inferred from references and description; NVD did not file a CPE for this CVE

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

—

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

—

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)

—

Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V1.4.1

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

SA-11 Developer Testing and Evaluation good match

Developer testing and evaluation (including fuzzing and static analysis) directly finds incorrect length values used in sequential buffer accesses.

SA-8 Security and Privacy Engineering Principles partial match

Secure engineering principles require explicit bounds checking and correct length calculations when performing buffer operations.

SI-10 Information Input Validation partial match

Input validation rejects or corrects malformed length values supplied from external sources before they reach buffer operations.

SI-16 Memory Protection partial match

Memory protection mechanisms limit the blast radius when an incorrect length value causes an out-of-bounds access.

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.

PR.PS-06 mostly match
prevents

Secure SDLC practices directly prevent incorrect-length buffer operations via safe APIs, reviews, and testing.

ID.RA-01 partial match
prevents

Vulnerability identification can discover buffer-length flaws but does not prevent their introduction.

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.

A.8.29 Security testing in development and acceptance mostly match
finds

Security testing in development can detect out-of-bounds accesses, but does not guarantee prevention.

A.8.25 Secure development life cycle partial match
prevents

Secure development life cycle mandates buffer-safety practices that directly prevent incorrect length values.

A.8.26 Application security requirements partial match
prevents

Application security requirements can specify buffer-size validation, but do not prescribe implementation details.

A.8.27 Secure system architecture and engineering principles partial match
prevents

Secure architecture principles encourage bounds-checked APIs, yet leave concrete coding decisions to developers.

A.8.28 Secure coding partial match
prevents

Secure coding explicitly requires correct buffer-length handling, eliminating CWE-805 when followed.

References