CVE-2025-20181

A vulnerability in Cisco IOS Software for Cisco Catalyst 2960X, 2960XR, 2960CX, and 3560CX Series Switches could allow an authenticated, local attacker with privilege level 15 or an unauthenticated attacker with physical access to the device to execute persistent code at boot time and break the chain of trust. This vulnerability is due to missing signature verification for specific files that may be loaded during the device boot process. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by placing a crafted file into a specific location on an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary code at boot time. Because this allows the attacker to bypass a major security feature of the device, Cisco has raised the Security Impact Rating (SIR) of this advisory from Medium to High. It has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 6.8 (MEDIUM).

CVE-2025-20181 has a CVSS v3.1 score of 6.8 out of 10, rated MEDIUM. This is a medium-severity vulnerability that should be remediated as part of regular maintenance.

CVE-2025-20181 affects products from cisco, specifically: catalyst_2960cx-8pc-l, catalyst_2960cx-8tc-l, catalyst_2960x-24pd-l, catalyst_2960x-24ps-l, catalyst_2960x-24psq-l, catalyst_2960x-24psq-l_cool, catalyst_2960x-24td-l, catalyst_2960x-24ts-l, catalyst_2960x-24ts-ll, catalyst_2960x-48fpd-l, catalyst_2960x-48fps-l, catalyst_2960x-48lpd-l, catalyst_2960x-48lps-l, catalyst_2960x-48td-l, catalyst_2960x-48ts-l, catalyst_2960x-48ts-ll, catalyst_2960xr-24pd-i, catalyst_2960xr-24pd-l, catalyst_2960xr-24ps-i, catalyst_2960xr-24ps-l, catalyst_2960xr-24td-i, catalyst_2960xr-24td-l, catalyst_2960xr-24ts-i, catalyst_2960xr-24ts-l, catalyst_2960xr-48fpd-i, catalyst_2960xr-48fpd-l, catalyst_2960xr-48fps-i, catalyst_2960xr-48fps-l, catalyst_2960xr-48lpd-i, catalyst_2960xr-48lpd-l, catalyst_2960xr-48lps-i, catalyst_2960xr-48lps-l, catalyst_2960xr-48td-i, catalyst_2960xr-48td-l, catalyst_2960xr-48ts-i, catalyst_2960xr-48ts-l, catalyst_3560cx-12pc-s, catalyst_3560cx-12pd-s, catalyst_3560cx-12tc-s, catalyst_3560cx-8pc-s, catalyst_3560cx-8pt-s, catalyst_3560cx-8tc-s, catalyst_3560cx-8xpd-s, ios. Check the affected products table above for specific version ranges.

You can use Secably's free Website Scanner to check your website for known vulnerabilities. For infrastructure scanning, use the Port Scanner to identify exposed services that may be affected. Check the vendor advisories linked above for specific patch and version information.