CVE intelligence and bounded remediation

CVE-2025-20214 — Cisco Ios Xe security vulnerability

Medium CVSS 4.3

A vulnerability in the Network Configuration Access Control Module (NACM) of Cisco IOS XE Software could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to obtain unauthorized read access to configuration or operational data. This vulnerability exists because a subtle change in inner API call behavior causes results to be filtered incorrectly. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by using either NETCONF, RESTCONF, or gRPC Network Management Interface (gNMI) protocols and query data on paths that may have been denied by the NACM configuration. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to access data that should have been restricted according to the NACM configuration. Note: This vulnerability requires that the attacker obtain the credentials from a valid user with privileges lower than 15, and that NACM was configured to provide restricted read access for that user.

Severity
Medium
CVSS
4.3 (3.1)
Published
2025-05-07
CISA KEV
Not currently listed
Ecosystem
operating-system
Weaknesses
CWE-639

Affected products

  • cisco / ios_xe / 17.11.1
  • cisco / ios_xe / 17.11.1a
  • cisco / ios_xe / 17.11.99sw
  • cisco / ios_xe / 17.12.1
  • cisco / ios_xe / 17.12.1a
  • cisco / ios_xe / 17.12.1w

Showing 6 representative product identities from 14 source matches. Confirm exact affected versions with the linked vendor and NVD evidence.

Matched remediation archetype

Authorization bypass, IDOR, and cross-tenant access

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Check exposure

  • Map object and action authorization checks across API, UI, batch, import/export, and background-job paths.
  • Identify tenant, ownership, role, and policy boundaries for affected resources and administrative operations.
  • Use synthetic fixtures to compare intended access matrices without accessing another user's real data.

Remediate safely

  • Enforce server-side authorization at each resource access and state transition using the authenticated principal and trusted tenant context.
  • Scope data queries by tenant and ownership; treat client-supplied identifiers, roles, and policy claims as untrusted.
  • Add deny-by-default policy tests for horizontal and vertical access across every affected transport.

Authoritative sources

Complete CVE record and remediation plan

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