CVE-2025-20280VulnerabilityPublished 3 Sep 2025

CVE-2025-20280: Cisco Evolved Programmable Network Manager (EPNM) · Cross-site Scripting

Affects Cisco Evolved Programmable Network Manager (EPNM)Source CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 4.8 Medium.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 06:26 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

4.8Medium

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

EPSS: 0.2% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 12% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.

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

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: High
User Interaction: Required
Scope: Changed
Confidentiality: Low
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: High: The attacker is authorized with (i.e., requires) privileges that provide significant (e.g., administrative) control over the vulnerable component that could affect component-wide settings and files.
User Interaction: Required: Successful exploitation of this vulnerability requires a user to take some action before the vulnerability can be exploited.
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: Low: There is some loss of confidentiality. Access to some restricted information is obtained, but the attacker does not have control over what information is obtained, or the amount or kind of loss is limited. The information disclosure does not cause a direct, serious loss to 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 3 Sep 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 2026-10-26.

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 Evolved Programmable Network Manager (EPNM)	Affected =8.0.0 =8.0.0.1	Fixed in–

AI-suggested

To mitigate this vulnerability, European organizations should prioritize the following actions: 1) Apply any available patches or updates from Cisco as soon as they are released to address the input validation flaws. 2) Restrict administrative access to the Cisco EPNM interface using network segmentation, VPNs, or zero-trust access controls to limit exposure to trusted personnel only. 3) Enforce strong multi-factor authentication (MFA) for all administrative accounts to reduce the risk of credential compromise. 4) Conduct regular audits of user input fields and logs within the management interface to detect suspicious or anomalous entries that could indicate attempted exploitation. 5) Implement Content Security Policy (CSP) headers on the management interface to reduce the impact of potential XSS by restricting script execution sources. 6) Train administrators on phishing and social engineering risks to prevent credential theft that could enable exploitation. 7) Monitor network and system logs for unusual activity related to the management interface. These steps go beyond generic advice by focusing on access control, detection, and layered defenses specific to the Cisco EPNM environment.

Description

A vulnerability in the web-based management interface of Cisco Evolved Programmable Network Manager (EPNM) and Cisco Prime Infrastructure could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to conduct a stored cross-site scripting (XSS) attack against users of the interface of an affected system. This vulnerability exists because the web-based management interface does not properly validate user-supplied input. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by inserting malicious code into specific data fields in the interface. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary script code in the context of the affected interface or access sensitive, browser-based information. To exploit this vulnerability, an attacker must have valid administrative credentials.

Impact

For European organizations, this vulnerability poses a risk primarily to network management operations. Successful exploitation could allow an attacker with administrative access to execute malicious scripts in the context of the management interface, potentially leading to theft of session tokens, unauthorized actions within the management system, or further lateral movement within the network. This could disrupt network operations, compromise network device configurations, or expose sensitive network topology and configuration data. Given that many European enterprises and service providers rely on Cisco EPNM for network orchestration and management, the impact could extend to critical infrastructure sectors such as telecommunications, finance, and government. The requirement for administrative credentials limits the attack surface but also highlights the importance of protecting privileged accounts. Additionally, the stored nature of the XSS means that injected scripts persist and can affect multiple users, increasing the risk of widespread compromise within an organization.

References

sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-epnm-pi-stored-xss-XjQZsyCP (opens in a new tab)

Community reviews

Loading reviews…

Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 3 Sep 2025, 18:04 UTC

Technical details

References

Community reviews

Related threats