A vulnerability in the management interface access control list (ACL) processing feature in Cisco IOS XR Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to bypass configured ACLs for the SSH, NetConf, and gRPC features.
This vulnerability exists because management interface ACLs have not been supported on Cisco IOS XR Software Packet I/O infrastructure platforms for Linux-handled features such as SSH, NetConf, or gRPC. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by attempting to send traffic to an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to bypass an ingress ACL that is applied on the management interface of the affected device.
For more information about this vulnerability, see the Details section of this advisory.
Cisco has released software updates that address this vulnerability. There are workarounds that address this vulnerability.
This advisory is available at the following link:
https://sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-acl-packetio-Swjhhbtz
This advisory is part of the September 2025 release of the Cisco IOS XR Software Security Advisory Bundled Publication. For a complete list of the advisories and links to them, see Cisco Event Response: September 2025 Semiannual Cisco IOS XR Software Security Advisory Bundled Publication.
Security Impact Rating: Medium
CVE: CVE-2025-20159
http://news.poseidon-us.com/TN0Lc7
