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.

Metrics

No CVSS v4.0

No CVSS v3.1

Attack Vector Physical

Attack Complexity Low

Privileges Required None

Scope Unchanged

Confidentiality Impact High

Integrity Impact High

Availability Impact High

User Interaction None

No CVSS v2

This CVE is not in the KEV list.

Exploitation none

Automatable no

Technical Impact total

Affected Vendors & Products

No data.

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References
Link Providers
https://sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-c2960-3560-sboot-ZtqADrHq cve-icon cve-icon
History

Wed, 07 May 2025 20:15:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Metrics ssvc

{'options': {'Automatable': 'no', 'Exploitation': 'none', 'Technical Impact': 'total'}, 'version': '2.0.3'}

Wed, 07 May 2025 17:45:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Description 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.
Weaknesses CWE-347
References
Metrics cvssV3_0

{'score': 6.8, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.0/AV:P/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H'}
cve-icon MITRE

Status: PUBLISHED

Assigner: cisco

Published: 2025-05-07T17:35:31.850Z

Updated: 2025-05-07T19:45:02.742Z

Reserved: 2024-10-10T19:15:13.225Z

Link: CVE-2025-20181

cve-icon Vulnrichment

Updated: 2025-05-07T18:56:19.192Z

cve-icon NVD

Status : Awaiting Analysis

Published: 2025-05-07T18:15:37.973

Modified: 2025-05-08T14:39:09.683

Link: CVE-2025-20181

cve-icon Redhat

No data.