CVE-2025-20188
CRITICALEPSS 98th pctlDescription
A vulnerability in the Out-of-Band Access Point (AP) Image Download, the Clean Air Spectral Recording, and the client debug bundles features of Cisco IOS XE Software for Wireless LAN Controllers (WLCs) could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to upload arbitrary files to an affected system. This vulnerability is due to the presence of a hard-coded JSON Web Token (JWT) on an affected system. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending crafted HTTPS requests to the AP file upload interface. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to upload files, perform path traversal, and execute arbitrary commands with root privileges.
How to fix
No published remediation has been found for this vulnerability's affected products yet.
Mitigation guidance may be in the linked vendor advisories in the References section below.
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CVSS v3 Vector
Exploitability
Impact
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
Exploit Intelligence
Very high risk: more likely to be exploited than 98% of all known CVEs.
References
Related Vulnerabilities
Other CWE-798 (Hard-coded Credentials) vulnerabilities, ordered by exploit likelihood. View all
| CVE | Severity | CVSS | EPSS | Exploited | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CVE-2022-26138 | Critical | 9.8 | 98% | KEV | - |
| CVE-2024-3272 | Critical | 9.8 | 98% | KEV | - |
| CVE-2019-15975 | Critical | 9.8 | 96% | - | Fix |
| CVE-2025-30406 | Critical | 9.0 | 94% | KEV | Fix |
| CVE-2024-28987 | Critical | 9.1 | 93% | KEV | Fix |
| CVE-2019-15976 | Critical | 9.8 | 93% | - | Fix |
Common questions
How do I fix CVE-2025-20188?
No published fix for CVE-2025-20188 has been found yet. Check the linked vendor advisories for guidance as it becomes available.
Is CVE-2025-20188 being actively exploited?
Not that we know of. CVE-2025-20188 is not in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. Its EPSS score of 27.1% is the estimated probability that it will be exploited in the next 30 days. That is higher than 98% of all scored CVEs.
How severe is CVE-2025-20188?
CVE-2025-20188 has a CVSS v3 base score of 10.0, rated critical. CVSS rates the technical impact if the vulnerability is exploited, not how likely that is, so weigh it alongside the exploit-prediction score when you decide what to patch first.
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This product uses NVD data but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. EPSS scores courtesy of FIRST.org (https://www.first.org/epss). Source: CISA KEV Catalog. Data as of 2025-06-23.