CVE Tools

CVE-2025-20253

Cisco IOS, IOS XE, Secure Firewall Adaptive Security Appliance, and Secure Firewall Threat Defense Software IKEv2 Denial of Service Vulnerability

Public exploit available. Not confirmed exploited in the wild yet. A vendor fix is available.

Published Updated Sources: CVE.org, NVD, BDU

What to do

The vendor has published a fix. Version details are below where the sources state them.

What it is

From the CVE record

A vulnerability in the IKEv2 feature of Cisco IOS Software, IOS XE Software, Secure Firewall ASA Software, and Secure FTD Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to cause the device to reload, resulting in a DoS condition. This vulnerability is due to the improper processing of IKEv2 packets. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending crafted IKEv2 packets to an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause an infinite loop that exhausts resources and could cause the device to reload.

In plain language

No plain-language summary for this CVE yet.

Exploitation

Where each signal puts this CVE on the scale from published to confirmed exploited.

EPSS38th
Public exploit
CISA KEV

Not in the catalog. CISA has not confirmed exploitation.

Public exploits

0 sources with a proof of concept or module.

Exploit links, PoCs and Metasploit modules after sign-in
EPSS

0.5% chance of exploitation activity in the next 30 days, which ranks it in the 38th percentile of scored CVEs.

Exploit Prediction Scoring System, FIRST.org. A probability, not a confirmation.

Lifecycle

6 events over 315 days, from the signal feeds we watch.

  1. OpenVAS check added
  2. Patch availablerecord updated
  3. Publishedweakness classified, att&ck mapped

Affected products

Technical detail

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H

Scored 8.6 by NVD.

How it is reached

  • Attack Vector NetworkExploitable remotely over the network without any special conditions
  • Attack Complexity LowNo special conditions — the attack can be reliably reproduced
  • Privileges Required NoneNo authentication required — anyone can exploit this
  • User Interaction NoneNo user interaction needed — fully automated exploitation

Scope

  • Scope ChangedThe exploit can affect other components (e.g. sandbox escape, host compromise from VM)

Impact if exploited

  • Confidentiality NoneNo confidentiality impact
  • Integrity NoneNo integrity impact
  • Availability HighTotal denial of service — the component is completely unavailable

Weaknesses

ATT&CK techniques

Mapped from the weaknesses above (CWE to ATT&CK), not observed in attacks.

Sources

Watch the software you run.

My Stack ranks new CVEs for your products by real-world exploitation, so the next serious one reaches you without reading every advisory.

We'll flag the next CVE, public exploit or patch for Cisco, not every advisory. This one: public exploit.

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