CVE-2025-20160

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 authentic

Severity
High 8.1
CVSS 3.1
Exploited
Not listed
EPSS
0.004
35.8th percentile
Discovered by
Vendor
Published by the vendor
Published
Sep 24, 2025
Assigned by cisco

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.

Weakness: CWE-287

Affected products

Vendor Product Category Matched by
Cisco Cisco IOS Software Routing & Switching cna-assigner
Cisco Cisco IOS XE Software Routing & Switching cna-assigner
Vendor-reported affected versions (2)
  • Cisco · IOS
  • Cisco · Cisco IOS XE Software