CVE-2025-20189
Reported by cisco · Published May 7, 2025
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.
Risk scores
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Versions |
|---|---|---|
| Cisco | Cisco IOS XE Software | 3.16.0S, 3.16.1S, 3.16.1aS |
| Cisco | Cisco IOS XE Software | 3.16.1aS, 3.16.3aS, 16.12.1x |
Timeline
- May 7, 2025 Coalition ESS Score (16 in total, the first dated here)
- May 7, 2025 CVE Published
- May 7, 2025 CVE Updated
- May 8, 2025 EPSS Score (30 in total, the first dated here)
- Mar 17, 2026 Security Advisory (3 in total, the first dated here)
Query this with the API
The same record, from the CLI:
vulnetix vdb vuln CVE-2025-20189
vulnetix vdb fixes CVE-2025-20189Or with curl, using the org id and key from your account page:
curl -s -H "Authorization: ApiKey ${VULNETIX_ORG_ID}:${VULNETIX_API_KEY}" \
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