CVE-2025-20314

CVE-2025-20314 is a high-severity vulnerability in Cisco IOS XE Software that allows an authenticated, local attacker with level-15 privileges or an unauthenticated attacker with physical access to execute persistent code at boot time, thereby breaking the chain of trust. This is due to improper validation of software packages, enabling an attacker to place a crafted file in a specific location to achieve persistent code execution on the underlying operating system. The vulnerability has a CVSS score of 6.7 (Medium) but Cisco has raised its Security Impact Rating to High due to its ability to bypass a major security feature. There is currently no evidence of active exploitation, public exploit code (Metasploit, Nuclei, ExploitDB), or KEV listing, though it has received some community discussion and media coverage.