# CVE-2025-20251: Path traversal in Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software

> Authenticated attackers can delete arbitrary files via crafted HTTP requests, causing Remote Access SSL VPN denial of service.

- **Severity:** High 8.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:L/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 14 Aug 2025
- **Updated:** 14 Aug 2025
- **Also known as:** GHSA-62cp-qvq6-cfw4

## What is CVE-2025-20251?

CVE-2025-20251 is a high-severity path traversal vulnerability in Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software, published on 14 Aug 2025. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

A vulnerability in the Remote Access SSL VPN service for Cisco Secure Firewall Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software and Cisco Secure Firewall Threat Defense (FTD) Software could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to create or delete arbitrary files on the underlying operating system. If critical system files are manipulated, new Remote Access SSL VPN sessions could be denied and existing sessions could be dropped, causing a denial of service (DoS) condition. An exploited device requires a manual reboot to recover.

This vulnerability is due to insufficient input validation when processing HTTP requests. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending crafted HTTP requests to an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to create or delete files on the underlying operating system, which could cause the Remote Access SSL VPN service to become unresponsive.
To exploit this vulnerability, the attacker must be authenticated as a VPN user of the affected device.

Weakness: CWE-1287 (Improper Validation of Specified Type of Input)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2025-20251?


## How do I fix CVE-2025-20251?

No fix has been published for CVE-2025-20251 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2025-20251 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-20251 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2025-20251 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2025-20251 is a high-severity path traversal vulnerability in Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software, published on 14 Aug 2025. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-20251 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-20251/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-20251/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2025-20251
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-20251
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2025-20251

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-20251/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.