Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:LSummary
CVE-2025-20358 is a critical-severity Missing Authentication for Critical Function (CWE-306) vulnerability in Cisco Unified Contact Center Express. Its CVSS base score is 9.4 (Critical).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190); ranked in the top 43% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to AC-14 (Permitted Actions Without Identification or Authentication) and IA-2 (Identification and Authentication (Organizational Users)) — 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-2025-20358 is a high-severity vulnerability (CVSS 9.4) in the Contact Center Express (CCX) Editor application of Cisco Unified CCX, stemming from improper authentication mechanisms in the communication between the CCX Editor and an affected Unified CCX server. This flaw, classified under CWE-306 (Missing Authentication for Critical Function), enables an unauthenticated, remote attacker to bypass authentication entirely and gain administrative permissions related to script creation and execution on the server.
An attacker can exploit this vulnerability by redirecting the authentication flow to a malicious server and tricking the CCX Editor into accepting it as successful. No privileges, user interaction, or special access are required (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N), allowing network-based exploitation with low complexity. Successful exploitation grants the attacker the ability to create and execute arbitrary scripts on the underlying operating system of the affected Unified CCX server, running under an internal non-root user account, potentially leading to high confidentiality and integrity impacts alongside limited availability disruption (C:H/I:H/A:L).
Cisco has published a security advisory at https://sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-cc-unauth-rce-QeN8h7mQ providing details on the vulnerability, affected versions, and recommended mitigation steps.
OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2025-37891
Vulnerability Data
A vulnerability in the Contact Center Express (CCX) Editor application of Cisco Unified CCX could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to bypass authentication and obtain administrative permissions pertaining to script creation and execution. This vulnerability is due to improper authentication…
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mechanisms in the communication between the CCX Editor and an affected Unified CCX server. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by redirecting the authentication flow to a malicious server and tricking the CCX Editor into believing the authentication was successful. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to create and execute arbitrary scripts on the underlying operating system of an affected Unified CCX server, as an internal non-root user account.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Control response
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- 6 hardening rules · 3 OS baselines
V6.2.3V6.4.4V10.4.16V12.1.3
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Directly mandates unique identification and authentication of users before access to functions requiring identity.
Extends the same authentication requirement to non-organizational users accessing critical functionality.
Requires authentication of services before they can invoke or expose critical functions.
Explicitly identifies and limits actions permitted without authentication, preventing critical functions from being exposed.
Access enforcement requires prior authentication before any authorization decision for critical functions.
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.
Directly requires authentication of users/services/hardware, which eliminates missing authentication for critical functions.
Managing identities and credentials is a prerequisite for authentication but does not itself enforce it on critical functions.
Defining and enforcing authorizations assumes prior authentication and therefore only partially mitigates the absence of authentication.
Protecting networks from unauthorized access can be undermined by missing authentication but does not address the root authentication gap.
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.
The control explicitly calls for authentication before any critical function is reached, eliminating the possibility of bypassing authentication for high-value operations.
Mandating authentication requirements for critical functions at the requirements-gathering stage ensures that essential operations are not left unprotected by missing login or verification mechanisms.
Mandating authentication for network services and critical functions stops attackers from invoking sensitive operations without credentials, closing gaps where authentication is absent for important capabilities.
Security engineering principles insist on authentication and authorization for every critical function, eliminating entry points that lack any access control mechanism.
Requiring strong authentication and access-privilege enablement for remote connections ensures that critical functions cannot be invoked without proper verification, closing a gap that would otherwise allow unauthenticated use.
Mandatory use of access cards, biometrics, or two-factor authentication ensures that critical physical areas cannot be entered without proper authentication.
Hardening callouts derived
Configuration rules from DISA STIG baselines that bear on weaknesses of the type cited by this CVE. Each rule is shown with the relationship its mapping actually records, against the CWE it was authored against. Derived via CVE→CWE over `controls_xwalks` (authoritative rows only; rows rated `none` are excluded).
Oracle Linux 8 (2 rules)
- V-248585 OL 8 must require reauthentication when using the "sudo" command. prevents CWE-306
- V-248827 OL 8 must not have the rsh-server package installed. prevents CWE-306
RHEL 7 (2 rules)
- V-204442 The Red Hat Enterprise Linux operating system must not have the rsh-server package installed. prevents CWE-306
- V-237635 The Red Hat Enterprise Linux operating system must require re-authentication when using the "sudo" command. prevents CWE-306
RHEL 8 (2 rules)
- V-230492 RHEL 8 must not have the rsh-server package installed. prevents CWE-306
- V-237643 RHEL 8 must require re-authentication when using the "sudo" command. prevents CWE-306