CVE-2025-20155 Path traversal in Cisco IOS XE Software

Medium 6.0 Published 7 May 2025 Updated 26 Feb 2026

An authenticated local attacker can write arbitrary files to the OS by exploiting insufficient input validation in SD-WAN bootstrap loading.

Exploited in the wild: Not known
Login needed: An administrator
Attackable: Local or same network only
Victim action needed: Not needed
Fix: None listed

What is CVE-2025-20155?

CVE-2025-20155 is a medium-severity path traversal vulnerability in Cisco Ios Xe, published on 7 May 2025. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

Official description

A vulnerability in the bootstrap loading of Cisco IOS XE Software could allow an authenticated, local attacker to write arbitrary files to an affected system. This vulnerability is due to insufficient input validation of the bootstrap file that is read by the system software when a device is first deployed in SD-WAN mode or when an administrator configures SD-Routing on the device. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by modifying a bootstrap file generated by Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Manager, loading it into the device flash, and then either reloading the device in a green field deployment in SD-WAN mode or configuring the device with SD-Routing. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to perform arbitrary file writes to the underlying operating system.

Weakness: CWE-1287

Which versions are affected by CVE-2025-20155?

It affects 1 product.

Products include Cisco Ios Xe.

How do I fix CVE-2025-20155?

No fix has been published for CVE-2025-20155 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

Upgrade, and resolve every user-supplied path against an allowed base folder before opening it. More about Path traversal.

Is CVE-2025-20155 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-20155 in the wild and no public exploit code.

All Cisco Ios Xe vulnerabilities

Sources

Also known as GHSA-5jcx-7jcf-9fw2.