CVE-2025-20163 Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller SSH Host Key Vulnerability

High 8.7 Published 4 Jun 2025 Updated 26 Feb 2026

An attacker can perform a man-in-the-middle attack to impersonate managed devices and capture user credentials due to insufficient SSH host key validation.

Exploited in the wild: Not known
Login needed: Not needed
Attackable: Over the internet
Victim action needed: Not needed
Fix: None listed

What is CVE-2025-20163?

CVE-2025-20163 is a high-severity vulnerability in Cisco Data Center Network Manager, published on 4 Jun 2025. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

Official description

A vulnerability in the SSH implementation of Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (NDFC) could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to impersonate Cisco NDFC-managed devices. This vulnerability is due to insufficient SSH host key validation. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by performing a machine-in-the-middle attack on SSH connections to Cisco NDFC-managed devices, which could allow an attacker to intercept this traffic. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to impersonate a managed device and capture user credentials.

Weakness: CWE-322

Which versions are affected by CVE-2025-20163?

It affects 1 product.

Products include Cisco Nexus Dashboard.

How do I fix CVE-2025-20163?

No fix has been published for CVE-2025-20163 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

Is CVE-2025-20163 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-20163 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Sources

Also known as GHSA-435c-q8rw-j678.