CVE-2025-20160
Medium
Elevated severity or exploit probability.
CVSS breakdown
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
| Attack Vector | N | Network |
| Attack Complexity | H | High |
| Privileges Required | N | None |
| User Interaction | N | None |
| Scope | U | Unchanged |
| Confidentiality | H | High |
| Integrity | H | High |
| Availability | H | High |
Timeline
- 2025-09-24 — Published (NVD)
- 2026-09-18 — Last modified (NVD)
Description
A vulnerability in the implementation of the TACACS+ protocol in Cisco IOS Software and Cisco IOS XE Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to view sensitive data or bypass authentication. This vulnerability exists because the system does not properly check whether the required TACACS+ shared secret is configured. A machine-in-the-middle attacker could exploit this vulnerability by intercepting and reading unencrypted TACACS+ messages or impersonating the TACACS+ server and falsely accepting arbitrary authentication requests. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to view sensitive information in a TACACS+ message or bypass authentication and gain access to the affected device.