CVE-2025-20268VulnerabilityPublished 14 Aug 2025

CVE-2025-20268: Cisco Firepower Threat Defense Software · Improper Handling of Values

Affects Cisco Firepower Threat Defense SoftwareSource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 5.8 Medium.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 08:30 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

5.8Medium

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

EPSS: 0.4% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 41% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:L/A:N

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: None
Scope: Changed
Confidentiality: None
Integrity: Low
Availability: None

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Network: The vulnerable component is bound to the network stack and the set of possible attackers extends beyond the other options listed, up to and including the entire Internet. Such a vulnerability is often termed 'remotely exploitable' and can be thought of as an attack being exploitable at the protocol level one or more network hops away (e.g., across one or more routers).
Attack Complexity: Low: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
Privileges Required: None: The attacker is unauthorized prior to attack, and therefore does not require any access to settings or files to carry out an attack.
User Interaction: None: The vulnerable system can be exploited without any interaction from any user.
Scope: Changed: An exploited vulnerability can affect resources beyond the security scope managed by the security authority of the vulnerable component. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are different and managed by different security authorities.
Confidentiality: None: There is no loss of confidentiality within the impacted component.
Integrity: Low: Modification of data is possible, but the attacker does not have control over the consequence of a modification, or the amount of modification is limited. The data modification does not have a direct, serious impact on the impacted component.
Availability: None: There is no impact to availability within the impacted component.

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 14 Aug 2025
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 26 Oct 2026.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponised: Public exploit code exists in Metasploit or Exploit-DB, or CISA SSVC reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
Cisco Cisco Firepower Threat Defense Software	Affected =7.7.0	Fixed in–

AI-suggested

Organizations should prioritize upgrading Cisco Secure Firewall Threat Defense Software to a patched version once Cisco releases an update addressing CVE-2025-20268. In the interim, administrators should review and tighten VPN access policies, possibly disabling or restricting the use of geolocation-based access controls if feasible. Implementing additional layers of authentication and network segmentation can reduce the risk of unauthorized access if the geolocation bypass is exploited. Monitoring network traffic for anomalous HTTP connections that do not conform to expected geolocation patterns can help detect exploitation attempts. Employing intrusion detection/prevention systems (IDS/IPS) with updated signatures targeting this vulnerability may provide temporary protection. Regularly auditing firewall and VPN logs for unusual access patterns and enforcing strict multi-factor authentication (MFA) on VPN endpoints will further mitigate risk. Finally, organizations should engage with Cisco support and subscribe to security advisories to receive timely updates.

Description

A vulnerability in the Geolocation-Based Remote Access (RA) VPN feature of Cisco Secure Firewall Threat Defense (FTD) Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to bypass configured policies to allow or deny HTTP connections based on a country or region. This vulnerability exists because the URL string is not fully parsed. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a crafted HTTP connection through the targeted device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to bypass configured policies and gain access to a network where the connection should have been denied.

Impact

For European organizations, this vulnerability poses a significant risk to network security, especially for those using Cisco Secure Firewall Threat Defense to enforce geolocation-based access restrictions. Many enterprises, government agencies, and critical infrastructure providers in Europe rely on such geolocation policies to restrict access from high-risk regions or to comply with regulatory requirements concerning data access and cross-border traffic. Exploitation could allow attackers to circumvent these controls, potentially leading to unauthorized access to sensitive internal networks, lateral movement, and data exposure. This could undermine compliance with GDPR and other data protection regulations if unauthorized access leads to data breaches. Additionally, the bypass of geolocation policies could facilitate attacks originating from regions otherwise blocked, complicating incident response and attribution. The medium severity indicates that while the vulnerability does not directly lead to data disclosure or system compromise, it weakens a critical layer of defense, increasing the attack surface for European organizations.

References

sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-ftd-ravpn-geobypass-9h38M37Z (opens in a new tab)

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 14 Aug 2025, 17:10 UTC

Technical details

References

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