CVE-2025-20172
Published: 05 February 2025
Description
A vulnerability in the SNMP subsystem of Cisco IOS Software, Cisco IOS XE Software, and Cisco IOS XR Software could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to cause a DoS condition on an affected device. This vulnerability is due to improper error handling when parsing SNMP requests. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a crafted SNMP request to an affected device. For Cisco IOS and IOS XE Software, a successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause the device to reload unexpectedly, resulting in a DoS condition. For Cisco IOS XR Software, a successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause the SNMP process to restart, resulting in an interrupted SNMP response from an affected device. Devices that are running Cisco IOS XR Software will not reload. This vulnerability affects SNMP versions 1, 2c, and 3. To exploit this vulnerability through SNMP v2c or earlier, the attacker must know a valid read-write or read-only SNMP community string for the affected system. To exploit this vulnerability through SNMP v3, the attacker must have valid SNMP user credentials for the affected system.
Security Summary
CVE-2025-20172 is a vulnerability in the SNMP subsystem of Cisco IOS Software, Cisco IOS XE Software, and Cisco IOS XR Software. It stems from improper error handling when parsing SNMP requests, affecting SNMP versions 1, 2c, and 3. An authenticated, remote attacker could exploit this issue by sending a crafted SNMP request to an affected device, with a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.7 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H) and associated with CWE-248 (Uncaught Exception).
To exploit the vulnerability, an attacker requires valid SNMP credentials: a read-write or read-only community string for SNMP v2c or earlier, or valid SNMP user credentials for v3. A successful attack on Cisco IOS or IOS XE devices causes the device to reload unexpectedly, resulting in a denial-of-service (DoS) condition. On Cisco IOS XR devices, it causes the SNMP process to restart, interrupting SNMP responses without triggering a full device reload.
The Cisco Security Advisory provides details on affected versions, workarounds, and patches for mitigation: https://sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-snmp-dos-sdxnSUcW.
Details
- CWE(s)