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Mallory
High

Cisco IOS XE NBAR CAPWAP Packet Handling DoS

IdentifiersCVE-2025-20315CWE-20

CVE-2025-20315 is a denial-of-service vulnerability in the Network-Based Application Recognition (NBAR) feature of Cisco IOS XE Software. According to the provided content, the flaw is caused by improper handling of malformed Control and Provisioning of Wireless Access Points (CAPWAP) packets. A remote, unauthenticated attacker can exploit the issue by sending malformed CAPWAP traffic through an affected device. Successful exploitation can cause the device to reload unexpectedly.

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ANALYST BRIEF

Impact, mitigation & remediation

What it means. What to do now. Patch path, mitigations, and the assume-compromise checklist.

Impact

What an attacker gets, and what they’ve been doing with it.

Successful exploitation allows an unauthenticated remote attacker to trigger an unexpected reload of the affected Cisco IOS XE device, resulting in a denial-of-service condition and interruption of network services handled by that device.

Mitigation

If you can’t patch tonight, do this now.

The provided content does not describe specific mitigations beyond applying Cisco's recommended updates. If patching cannot be performed immediately, limiting exposure to untrusted CAPWAP traffic paths through affected devices may reduce risk, but vendor-specific mitigation details are not available in the provided information.

Remediation

Patch, then assume compromise.

Apply the vendor-provided Cisco IOS XE software updates for affected products and versions, in accordance with Cisco's advisory and version-specific guidance. The provided content indicates that organizations should update vulnerable products per Cisco instructions.
PUBLIC EXPLOITS

Exploits

No public exploits tracked yet. Mallory keeps watching.

VALID 0 / 0 TOTALView more in app

No public exploit code observed for this vulnerability.

What this page doesn’t show

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Exposure mapping

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Threat actor evidence

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Associated malware

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Detection signatures

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Vendor-by-vendor mapping

Cross-references every affected SKU, including bundled OEM variants.

Social activity3

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