Cybersecurity professionals consider CVE-2025-20217 an immediate threat requiring urgent mitigation.
Status: Awaiting Analysis
Last updated: 🕐 15 Aug 2025, 13:12 UTC
Originally published on: 🕔 14 Aug 2025, 17:15 UTC
CVSS Release: version 3
psirt@cisco.com
Primary
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H
CVE-2025-20217: A vulnerability in the packet inspection functionality of the Snort 3 Detection Engine of Cisco Secure Firewall Threat Defense (FTD) Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to cause a denial of service (DoS) condition on an affected device. This vulnerability is due to incorrect processing of traffic that is inspected by an affected device. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending crafted traffic through the affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause the affected device to enter an infinite loop while inspecting traffic, resulting in a DoS condition. The system watchdog will restart the Snort process automatically.
The exploitability of CVE-2025-20217 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).
With low attack complexity and no required privileges, CVE-2025-20217 is an easy target for cybercriminals. Organizations should prioritize immediate mitigation measures to prevent unauthorized access and data breaches.
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-2025-20217, 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-2025-20217, 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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