CVE-2025-20173
Published: 05 February 2025
Description
A vulnerability in the SNMP subsystem of Cisco IOS Software and Cisco IOS XE 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. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause the device to reload unexpectedly, resulting in a DoS condition. 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-2025-20173 is a vulnerability in the SNMP subsystem of Cisco IOS Software and Cisco IOS XE Software that stems from improper error handling during the parsing of SNMP requests. This flaw affects SNMP versions 1, 2c, and 3, enabling an authenticated, remote attacker to trigger a denial-of-service (DoS) condition by sending a crafted SNMP request, which causes the affected device to reload unexpectedly.
An attacker requires low privileges to exploit this vulnerability: for SNMP v2c or earlier, knowledge of a valid read-write or read-only community string; for SNMP v3, valid user credentials. Successful exploitation results in a scoped DoS, as indicated by the CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.7 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H), with no impact on confidentiality or integrity.
The Cisco Security Advisory provides further details on this issue, available at https://sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-snmp-dos-sdxnSUcW.
Details
- CWE(s)