CVE intelligence and bounded remediation

CVE-2025-20184 — Cisco Asyncos security vulnerability

High CVSS 7.2

A vulnerability in the web-based management interface of Cisco AsyncOS Software for Cisco Secure Email Gateway and Cisco Secure Web Appliance could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to perform command injection attacks against an affected device. The attacker must authenticate with valid administrator credentials. This vulnerability is due to insufficient validation of XML configuration files by an affected device. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by uploading a crafted XML configuration file. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to inject commands to the underlying operating system with root privileges.

Severity
High
CVSS
7.2 (3.1)
Published
2025-02-05
CISA KEV
Not currently listed
Ecosystem
operating-system
Weaknesses
CWE-20, CWE-77

Affected products

  • cisco / asyncos / 13.0.0-392
  • cisco / asyncos / 13.0.5-007
  • cisco / asyncos / 13.5.1-277
  • cisco / asyncos / 13.5.4-038
  • cisco / asyncos / 14.0.0-698
  • cisco / asyncos / 14.2.0-620

Showing 6 representative product identities from 68 source matches. Confirm exact affected versions with the linked vendor and NVD evidence.

Matched remediation archetype

Command, code, expression, and template injection

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Check exposure

  • Trace untrusted values to process execution, interpreters, evaluators, template engines, dynamic imports, and administrative scripting features.
  • Determine whether the affected path is reachable across each trust boundary and which service account or host privilege it inherits.
  • Review configuration for optional execution features, unsafe compatibility modes, and shell invocation.

Remediate safely

  • Replace string-built commands or evaluated code with fixed operations and structured argument APIs that do not invoke a shell.
  • Use strict allowlists for operation identifiers and reject unexpected input before it reaches any interpreter.
  • Update the affected component and add inert regression tests covering metacharacters, encoding variants, and alternate request paths.

Authoritative sources

Complete CVE record and remediation plan

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