CVE intelligence and bounded remediation
CVE-2025-20213 — Cisco Catalyst Sd-Wan Manager security vulnerability
A vulnerability in the CLI of Cisco Catalyst SD-WAN Manager, formerly Cisco SD-WAN vManage, could allow an authenticated, local attacker to overwrite arbitrary files on the local file system of an affected device. To exploit this vulnerability, the attacker must have valid read-only credentials with CLI access on the affected system. This vulnerability is due to improper access controls on files that are on the local file system. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by running a series of crafted commands on the local file system of an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to overwrite arbitrary files on the affected device and gain privileges of the root user. To exploit this vulnerability, an attacker would need to have CLI access as a low-privilege user.
- Severity
- Medium
- CVSS
- 5.5 (3.1)
- Published
- 2025-05-07
- CISA KEV
- Not currently listed
- Ecosystem
- software/application
- Weaknesses
- CWE-78
Affected products
- cisco / catalyst_sd-wan_manager / 17.2.4
- cisco / catalyst_sd-wan_manager / 17.2.5
- cisco / catalyst_sd-wan_manager / 17.2.6
- cisco / catalyst_sd-wan_manager / 17.2.7
- cisco / catalyst_sd-wan_manager / 17.2.8
- cisco / catalyst_sd-wan_manager / 17.2.9
Matched remediation archetype
Command, code, expression, and template injection
This catalog composition supplies bounded fallback guidance. Explicitly reviewed curated workflows load with the complete record below.
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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