Cybersecurity professionals consider CVE-2025-20163 an immediate threat requiring urgent mitigation.
Status: Awaiting Analysis
Last updated: 🕗 05 Jun 2025, 20:12 UTC
Originally published on: 🕔 04 Jun 2025, 17:15 UTC
Time between publication and last update: 1 days
CVSS Release: version 3
psirt@cisco.com
Primary
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:N
CVE-2025-20163: A vulnerability in the SSH implementation of Cisco Nexus Dashboard Fabric Controller (NDFC) could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to impersonate Cisco NDFC-managed devices. This vulnerability is due to insufficient SSH host key validation. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by performing a machine-in-the-middle attack on SSH connections to Cisco NDFC-managed devices, which could allow an attacker to intercept this traffic. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to impersonate a managed device and capture user credentials.
The exploitability of CVE-2025-20163 depends on two key factors: attack complexity (the level of effort required to execute an exploit) and privileges required (the access level an attacker needs).
CVE-2025-20163 presents a challenge to exploit due to its high attack complexity, but the absence of privilege requirements still makes it a viable target for skilled attackers. A thorough security review is advised.
A lower complexity and fewer privilege requirements make exploitation easier. Security teams should evaluate these aspects to determine the urgency of mitigation strategies, such as patch management and access control policies.
Attack Complexity (AC) measures the difficulty in executing an exploit. A high AC means that specific conditions must be met, making an attack more challenging, while a low AC means the vulnerability can be exploited with minimal effort.
Privileges Required (PR) determine the level of system access necessary for an attack. Vulnerabilities requiring no privileges are more accessible to attackers, whereas high privilege requirements limit exploitation to authorized users with elevated access.
Above is the CVSS Sub-score Breakdown for CVE-2025-20163, illustrating how Base, Impact, and Exploitability factors combine to form the overall severity rating. A higher sub-score typically indicates a more severe or easier-to-exploit vulnerability.
Below is the Impact Analysis for CVE-2025-20163, showing how Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability might be affected if the vulnerability is exploited. Higher values usually signal greater potential damage.
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