{"id":39027,"date":"2025-05-17T19:21:30","date_gmt":"2025-05-17T19:21:30","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2025-08-31T00:12:25","modified_gmt":"2025-08-31T06:12:25","slug":"cve-2025-20154-denial-of-service-vulnerability-in-cisco-ios-and-ios-xe-software","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-20154-denial-of-service-vulnerability-in-cisco-ios-and-ios-xe-software\/","title":{"rendered":"<strong>CVE-2025-20154: Denial of Service Vulnerability in Cisco IOS and IOS XE Software<\/strong>"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Overview<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In recent cybersecurity developments, a critical vulnerability, designated as CVE-2025-20154, has been discovered in Cisco&#8217;s IOS Software and IOS XE Software. The vulnerability lies within the Two-Way Active Measurement Protocol (TWAMP) server feature, and if exploited, it could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to cause the affected device to reload. This results in a Denial of Service (DoS) condition, which can disrupt network operations and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-4372-webaudio-heap-corruption-in-google-chrome-a-potential-gateway-to-system-compromise-and-data-leakage\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"43780\">potentially lead to system compromise or data<\/a> leakage. This <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-20186-command-injection-vulnerability-in-cisco-ios-xe-software-s-wireless-lan-controller-feature\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"45519\">vulnerability is of particular concern to organizations utilizing Cisco<\/a> network devices, as it poses a significant threat to their operational stability and data security.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Vulnerability Summary<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>CVE ID: CVE-2025-20154<br \/>\nSeverity: Critical, CVSS Score 8.6<br \/>\nAttack Vector: Network<br \/>\nPrivileges Required: None<br \/>\nUser Interaction: None<br \/>\nImpact: Denial of Service, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-30165-potential-system-compromise-in-vllm-v0-engine\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"43995\">potential system compromise<\/a> or data leakage<\/p>\n<p><strong>Affected Products<\/strong><\/p><div id=\"ameeb-735558182\" class=\"ameeb-content-2 ameeb-entity-placement\"><div style=\"border-left: 4px solid #555; padding-left: 20px; margin: 48px 0; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; color: #ffffff; line-height: 1.6; max-width: 700px;\">\r\n  <h2 style=\"margin-top: 0; font-size: 20px; font-weight: 600; display: flex; align-items: center;\">\r\n    <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/chat\" style=\"display: inline-flex; align-items: center; margin-right: 8px;\">\r\n      <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Best-App-icon-Ameeba.png\" alt=\"Ameeba Chat Icon\" style=\"width: 40px; height: 40px;\" \/>\r\n    <\/a>\r\n    A new way to communicate\r\n  <\/h2>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"margin-bottom: 12px;\">\r\n    Ameeba Chat is built on encrypted identity, not personal profiles.\r\n  <\/p>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"margin-bottom: 16px;\">\r\n    Message, call, share files, and coordinate with identities kept separate.\r\n  <\/p>\r\n\r\n  <ul style=\"list-style: none; padding-left: 0; margin-bottom: 20px;\">\r\n    <li>\u2022 Encrypted identity<\/li>\r\n    <li>\u2022 Ameeba Chat authenticates access<\/li>\r\n    <li>\u2022 Aliases and categories<\/li>\r\n    <li>\u2022 End-to-end encrypted chat, calls, and files<\/li>\r\n    <li>\u2022 Secure notes for sensitive information<\/li>\r\n  <\/ul>\r\n\r\n  <p style=\"font-style: italic; font-weight: 600; margin-bottom: 24px;\">\r\n    Private communication, rethought.\r\n  <\/p>\r\n\r\n  <div style=\"display: flex; flex-wrap: wrap; gap: 12px;\">\r\n    <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/chat\/download\" style=\"background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; padding: 10px 20px; text-decoration: none; border-radius: 6px; font-weight: 500;\">Download Ameeba Chat<\/a>\r\n    <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/chat\" style=\"border: 1px solid #ffffff; color: #ffffff; padding: 10px 20px; text-decoration: none; border-radius: 6px; font-weight: 500;\">Learn More<\/a>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\n<p>Product | Affected Versions<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-20188-cisco-ios-xe-software-for-wireless-lan-controllers-security-vulnerability\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"44062\">Cisco IOS Software<\/a> | All versions supporting TWAMP server feature<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-20182-critical-vulnerability-in-cisco-device-software-allows-dos-attacks\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"46246\">Cisco IOS XE Software<\/a> | All versions supporting TWAMP server feature<\/p>\n<p><strong>How the Exploit Works<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The CVE-2025-20154 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2023-39444-critical-out-of-bounds-write-vulnerabilities-in-gtkwave-3-3-115\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"43639\">vulnerability is primarily due to an out-of-bounds<\/a> array access issue that arises when processing specially crafted TWAMP control packets. An attacker could exploit this <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2024-11186-severe-access-control-vulnerability-in-cloudvision-portal\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"44985\">vulnerability by sending these malicious TWAMP control<\/a> packets to an affected device. A successful exploit triggers the affected device to reload, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-22040-race-condition-vulnerability-in-linux-kernel-resulting-in-potential-system-compromise\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"76170\">resulting in a DoS condition<\/a>. In the case of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-20253-critical-vulnerability-in-ikev2-feature-of-cisco-software-could-lead-to-denial-of-service-dos-attack\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"76169\">Cisco IOS XR Software<\/a>, the ipsla_ippm_server process alone reloads unexpectedly, but only when debugs are enabled.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Conceptual Example Code<\/strong><\/p><div id=\"ameeb-2736745193\" class=\"ameeb-content ameeb-entity-placement\"><div class=\"poptin-embedded\" data-id=\"f6b387694f681\"><\/div>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n<\/div>\n<p>The exploitation of this <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-43564-improper-access-control-vulnerability-in-coldfusion-leading-to-arbitrary-file-system-read\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"49394\">vulnerability is network-based and involves sending malicious TWAMP control<\/a> packets. A conceptual example of the exploit might look like this:<\/p>\n<pre><code class=\"\" data-line=\"\">import socket\ndef exploit(target_ip):\n# Craft malicious TWAMP control packet\npacket = b&quot;\\x00&quot;*100  # This is just a placeholder\n# Send the packet to the target\nsock = socket.socket(socket.AF_INET, socket.SOCK_DGRAM)\nsock.sendto(packet, (target_ip, 862))  # TWAMP uses UDP port 862\nexploit(&quot;192.0.2.0&quot;)<\/code><\/pre>\n<p><strong>Mitigation Guidance<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Immediate mitigation of this <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/escalating-cybersecurity-threats-to-healthcare-providers-hscc-urges-immediate-action\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"49395\">vulnerability<\/a> can be achieved by applying the vendor patch provided by Cisco. Organizations are advised to apply this patch to all affected devices as soon as possible. In the interim, employing a Web Application Firewall (WAF) or an Intrusion Detection System (IDS) can serve as a temporary mitigation measure. These tools can help detect and block malicious traffic, including the specially crafted TWAMP <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-43563-coldfusion-improper-access-control-vulnerability-allowing-unauthorized-file-system-read\/\"  data-wpil-monitor-id=\"49453\">control packets associated with this vulnerability<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Overview In recent cybersecurity developments, a critical vulnerability, designated as CVE-2025-20154, has been discovered in Cisco&#8217;s IOS Software and IOS XE Software. The vulnerability lies within the Two-Way Active Measurement Protocol (TWAMP) server feature, and if exploited, it could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to cause the affected device to reload. This results in a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"vendor":[77,96],"product":[97],"attack_vector":[87],"asset_type":[],"severity":[],"exploit_status":[],"class_list":["post-39027","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","vendor-apple","vendor-cisco","product-cisco-ios-xe","attack_vector-dos"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39027","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39027"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39027\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":68634,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39027\/revisions\/68634"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39027"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39027"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39027"},{"taxonomy":"vendor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/vendor?post=39027"},{"taxonomy":"product","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product?post=39027"},{"taxonomy":"attack_vector","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/attack_vector?post=39027"},{"taxonomy":"asset_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/asset_type?post=39027"},{"taxonomy":"severity","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/severity?post=39027"},{"taxonomy":"exploit_status","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/exploit_status?post=39027"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}