CVE-2025-20365VulnerabilityPublished 24 Sep 2025Updated 15 Oct 2025

CVE-2025-20365: Cisco Aironet Access Point Software (IOS XE Controller) · Improper Verification of Source of a Communication Channel

Affects Cisco Aironet Access Point Software (IOS XE Controller)Source CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 4.3 Medium.

Data as of 25 Oct 2026, 19:02 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

4.3Medium

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

EPSS: 0.1% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 5% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.

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

Attack Vector: Adjacent
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: None
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: None
Integrity: Low
Availability: None

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

Attack Vector: Adjacent: The vulnerable component is bound to the network stack, but the attack is limited at the protocol level to a logically adjacent topology. This can mean an attack must be launched from the same shared physical (e.g., Bluetooth or IEEE 802.11) or logical (e.g., local IP subnet) network, or from within a secure or otherwise limited administrative domain (e.g., MPLS, secure VPN to an administrative network zone).
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: Unchanged: An exploited vulnerability can only affect resources managed by the same security authority. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are either the same, or both are managed by the same security authority.
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 24 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 2026-10-25.

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 Aironet Access Point Software (IOS XE Controller)	Affected =16.10.1 =17.1.1 =16.11.1 =16.12.1 =16.12.4 =16.12.2 =16.12.5 =16.12.3 =16.12.6 =16.12.8 =16.12.7 =17.3.1 =17.3.2 =17.3.3 =17.3.4 =17.3.5 =17.3.6 =17.3.7 =17.3.8 =17.2.1 =17.2.3 =17.2.2 =17.5.1 =17.4.1 =17.6.1 =17.6.2 =17.6.3 =17.6.4 =17.6.5 =17.6.6 =17.6.7 =17.6.8 =17.10.1 =17.9.1 =17.9.2 =17.9.3 =17.9.4 =17.9.5 =17.9.6 =17.9.7 =17.7.1 =17.8.1 =17.11.1 =17.12.1 =17.12.2 =17.12.3 =17.12.5 =17.13.1 =17.14.1 =17.15.1	Fixed in–

AI-suggested

European organizations should prioritize patching affected Cisco IOS XE Controller versions as soon as Cisco releases security updates addressing CVE-2025-20365. Until patches are available, network administrators should implement strict wireless network segmentation and access controls to limit unauthorized client association. Employing network access control (NAC) solutions can help ensure only trusted devices connect to wireless networks. Monitoring IPv6 RA traffic for anomalies or unexpected gateway advertisements can provide early detection of exploitation attempts. Disabling IPv6 Router Advertisement processing on wireless interfaces where not required can mitigate risk. Additionally, organizations should review wireless client isolation settings to prevent clients from sending RA packets to access points. Regularly auditing wireless infrastructure configurations and maintaining up-to-date firmware will reduce exposure. Incident response teams should be prepared to investigate intermittent connectivity issues that may indicate exploitation attempts.

Description

A vulnerability in the IPv6 Router Advertisement (RA) packet processing of Cisco Access Point Software could allow an unauthenticated, adjacent attacker to modify the IPv6 gateway on an affected device. This vulnerability is due to a logic error in the processing of IPv6 RA packets that are received from wireless clients. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by associating to a wireless network and sending a series of crafted IPv6 RA packets. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to temporarily change the IPv6 gateway of an affected device. This could also lead to intermittent packet loss for any wireless clients that are associated with the affected device.

Impact

For European organizations, this vulnerability poses a risk primarily to the integrity and reliability of wireless network operations. Organizations relying on Cisco Aironet access points with affected IOS XE versions may experience intermittent packet loss and network instability due to manipulated IPv6 routing. This can degrade user experience, disrupt critical business applications, and complicate network troubleshooting. While the vulnerability does not directly expose sensitive data or cause denial of service, the temporary gateway changes could be leveraged as part of a broader attack chain, such as man-in-the-middle attacks or traffic interception if combined with other vulnerabilities. Sectors with high reliance on wireless connectivity—such as finance, healthcare, government, and manufacturing—may face operational disruptions. The requirement for attacker adjacency limits remote exploitation but does not eliminate risk in environments with guest or poorly segmented wireless networks. Given the widespread deployment of Cisco Aironet devices in Europe, the vulnerability could affect a significant number of enterprises and public institutions.

References

sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-ap-ipv6-gw-tUAzpn9O (opens in a new tab)

Community reviews

Loading reviews…

Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 15 Oct 2025, 16:16 UTC

Technical details

References

Community reviews

Related threats