Secuno
ENNL
Book demo

CVE-2025-20188

Cisco iOS XE hard-coded credentials

10.0 CRITICALPublic exploitEPSS 27.5%
  1. Published7 May 2025

Description

A vulnerability in the Out-of-Band Access Point (AP) Image Download, the Clean Air Spectral Recording, and the client debug bundles features of Cisco IOS XE Software for Wireless LAN Controllers (WLCs) could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to upload arbitrary files to an affected system. This vulnerability is due to the presence of a hard-coded JSON Web Token (JWT) on an affected system. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending crafted HTTPS requests to the AP file upload interface. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to upload files, perform path traversal, and execute arbitrary commands with root privileges.

CVSS 3.1 breakdown

Attack vectorNetwork
Attack complexityLow
Privileges requiredNone
User interactionNone
ScopeChanged
ConfidentialityHigh
IntegrityHigh
AvailabilityHigh
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H

Affected products

Cisco iOS XE17.11.1 · 17.11.99sw · 17.12.1 · 17.12.2

Remediation

No fixed version is recorded in the NVD data. Check the vendor advisory for the latest guidance.

References

Related CVEs

Recent high-severity vulnerabilities sharing a weakness type.

CVE-2026-1095669.8
Rapyd Admin from 9.0.0 before 9.20.0 contains a hard-coded credentials vulnerability…
CVE-2026-1087539.4
Agnaistic agnai through 1.0.555 contains a hard-coded credentials vulnerability in…
CVE-2026-1052789.8
The published Docker image for openPDC includes a fixed administrative credential with…
CVE-2026-842508.4
IBM Guardium Data Protection 12.2 is vulnerable due to weak cryptographic protection…
CVE-2026-622529.8
Homer is open source telecom observability software. Prior to version 11.0.283, on…
CVE-2026-1021618.8
An unauthenticated attacker located on an adjacent private network (or any attacker…

Frequently asked

Is CVE-2025-20188 being actively exploited?

CVE-2025-20188 is not in the CISA KEV catalog. A public exploit reference exists, so treat it as exploitable. Its EPSS exploit probability is 27.5%.

How severe is CVE-2025-20188?

CVE-2025-20188 has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 10.0, rated critical. EPSS estimates a 27.5% probability of exploitation.

Which products are affected by CVE-2025-20188?

Affected products include Cisco iOS XE.

How do I fix CVE-2025-20188?

Apply the vendor's patch or advisory guidance, then verify no affected versions remain across your devices.

How Secuno handles this

Secuno correlates vulnerabilities like CVE-2025-20188 against the real software inventory on every managed device, every day. Rather than a static severity, each match is scored in context: exploit availability, EPSS, the asset's exposure, and business criticality decide where it lands in the queue. If an affected version is present anywhere across your portfolio, it surfaces automatically with a prioritised remediation path.

See how prioritisation worksBook a demo

Get Patch this first every Monday

Five vulnerabilities that matter this week, ranked on real exploitation. Plain language, one email, no spam.

You can unsubscribe with one click from every issue. We handle your details as described in our privacy policy.

Data from the NVD, CISA KEV catalog and FIRST EPSS. CVSS 3.1 base score shown where available.