CVE-2025-20162
8.6 · HIGHOverview
CVE-2025-20162 is a high-severity vulnerability affecting cisco ios_xe. It was published on May 7, 2025 and has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 8.6 (HIGH).
This vulnerability has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 8.6, rated HIGH. It can be exploited remotely over the network. No authentication or special privileges are required for exploitation.
Technical Description
A vulnerability in the DHCP snooping security feature of Cisco IOS XE Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to cause a full interface queue wedge, which could result in a denial of service (DoS) condition.
This vulnerability is due to improper handling of DHCP request packets. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending DHCP request packets to an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause packets to wedge in the queue, creating a DoS condition for downstream devices of the affected system and requiring that the system restart to drain the queue.
Note: This vulnerability can be exploited with either unicast or broadcast DHCP packets on a VLAN that does not have DHCP snooping enabled.
Remediation
Check the references section for vendor advisories and patches from cisco. Update ios_xe to the latest patched version. If immediate patching is not possible, review the CVSS vector to understand the attack surface and apply compensating controls such as network segmentation or access restrictions.
Affected Products
| Vendor | Product | Versions | Status |
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is CVE-2025-20162?
CVE-2025-20162 is a high-severity vulnerability affecting cisco ios_xe. It was published on May 7, 2025 and has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 8.6 (HIGH).
How severe is CVE-2025-20162?
This vulnerability has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 8.6, rated HIGH. It can be exploited remotely over the network. No authentication or special privileges are required for exploitation.
How do I fix or remediate CVE-2025-20162?
Check the references section for vendor advisories and patches from cisco. Update ios_xe to the latest patched version. If immediate patching is not possible, review the CVSS vector to understand the attack surface and apply compensating controls such as network segmentation or access restrictions.
How can CyberStrike help with CVE-2025-20162?
CyberStrike's AI-powered security agents can automatically detect CVE-2025-20162 across your infrastructure using autonomous pentesting, DAST scanning, and HackBrowser. The platform continuously monitors for known vulnerabilities and provides actionable remediation guidance prioritized by real-world exploitability.
How CyberStrike Helps
AI agents map your attack surface to find vulnerabilities like this one.
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