Cisco IOS XE up to 17.14.1a Express Forwarding mismatched memory management routines

CVSS Meta Temp Score
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CTI Interest Score
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6.8$0-$5k0.00

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability, which was classified as critical, has been found in Cisco IOS XE. Impacted is an unknown function of the component Express Forwarding. Performing a manipulation results in mismatched memory management routines. This vulnerability is reported as CVE-2025-20189. The attacker must have access to the local network to execute the attack. No exploit exists. It is advisable to upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability classified as critical has been found in Cisco IOS XE. This affects an unknown functionality of the component Express Forwarding. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a mismatched memory management routines vulnerability. CWE is classifying the issue as CWE-762. The product attempts to return a memory resource to the system, but it calls a release function that is not compatible with the function that was originally used to allocate that resource. This is going to have an impact on availability. The summary by CVE is:

A vulnerability in the Cisco Express Forwarding functionality of Cisco IOS XE Software for Cisco ASR 903 Aggregation Services Routers with Route Switch Processor 3 (RSP3C) could allow an unauthenticated, adjacent attacker to trigger a denial of service (DoS) condition. This vulnerability is due to improper memory management when Cisco IOS XE Software is processing Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) messages. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending crafted ARP messages at a high rate over a period of time to an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to exhaust system resources, which eventually triggers a reload of the active route switch processor (RSP). If a redundant RSP is not present, the router reloads.

The advisory is shared at sec.cloudapps.cisco.com. This vulnerability is uniquely identified as CVE-2025-20189 since 10/10/2024. The exploitability is told to be easy. The attack can only be done within the local network. No form of authentication is needed for exploitation. Neither technical details nor an exploit are publicly available. The price for an exploit might be around USD $0-$5k at the moment (estimation calculated on 08/05/2025).

Upgrading eliminates this vulnerability.

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Productinfo

Type

Vendor

Name

Version

License

Website

CPE 2.3info

CPE 2.2info

CVSSv4info

VulDB Vector: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv3info

VulDB Meta Base Score: 6.9
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 6.8

VulDB Base Score: 6.5
VulDB Temp Score: 6.2
VulDB Vector: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CNA Base Score: 7.4
CNA Vector (cisco): 🔍

CVSSv2info

AVACAuCIA
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VectorComplexityAuthenticationConfidentialityIntegrityAvailability
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VulDB Base Score: 🔍
VulDB Temp Score: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

Exploitinginfo

Class: Mismatched memory management routines
CWE: CWE-762 / CWE-119
CAPEC: 🔍
ATT&CK: 🔍

Physical: No
Local: No
Remote: Partially

Availability: 🔍
Status: Not defined

EPSS Score: 🔍
EPSS Percentile: 🔍

Price Prediction: 🔍
Current Price Estimation: 🔍

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Threat Intelligenceinfo

Interest: 🔍
Active Actors: 🔍
Active APT Groups: 🔍

Countermeasuresinfo

Recommended: Upgrade
Status: 🔍

0-Day Time: 🔍

Timelineinfo

10/10/2024 🔍
05/07/2025 +209 days 🔍
05/07/2025 +0 days 🔍
08/05/2025 +90 days 🔍

Sourcesinfo

Vendor: cisco.com

Advisory: cisco-sa-asr903-rsp3-arp-dos-WmfzdvJZ
Status: Confirmed

CVE: CVE-2025-20189 (🔍)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2025-20189
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-307917
scip Labs: https://www.scip.ch/en/?labs.20150108

Entryinfo

Created: 05/07/2025 20:18
Updated: 08/05/2025 16:43
Changes: 05/07/2025 20:18 (64), 08/05/2025 16:43 (1)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216::103

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