Technical particulars a couple of maximum-severity Cisco IOS XE WLC arbitrary file add flaw tracked as CVE-2025-20188 have been made publicly accessible, bringing us nearer to a working exploit.
The write-up by Horizon3 researchers doesn’t include a ‘ready-to-run’ proof of idea RCE exploit script, however it does present sufficient info for a talented attacker and even an LLM to fill within the lacking items.
Given the fast threat of weaponization and widespread use in assaults, it is strongly recommended that impacted customers take motion now to guard their endpoints.
The Cisco IOS XE WLC flaw
Cisco disclosed the essential flaw in IOS XE Software program for Wi-fi LAN Controllers on Could 7, 2025, which permits an attacker to take over units.
The seller stated it’s attributable to a hard-coded JSON Internet Token (JWT) that enables an unauthenticated, distant attacker to add recordsdata, carry out path traversal, and execute arbitrary instructions with root privileges.
The bulletin famous that CVE-2025-20188 is just harmful when the ‘Out-of-Band AP Picture Obtain’ function is enabled on the machine, by which case, the next machine fashions are in danger:
- Catalyst 9800-CL Wi-fi Controllers for Cloud
- Catalyst 9800 Embedded Wi-fi Controller for Catalyst 9300, 9400, and 9500 Sequence Switches
- Catalyst 9800 Sequence Wi-fi Controllers
- Embedded Wi-fi Controller on Catalyst APs
Horizon3’s assault instance
Horizon3’s evaluation reveals that the flaw exists as a consequence of a hardcoded JWT fallback secret (“notfound”) utilized by the backend Lua scripts for add endpoints mixed with inadequate path validation.
Particularly, the backend makes use of OpenResty (Lua + Nginx) scripts to validate JWT tokens and deal with file uploads, but when the ‘/tmp/nginx_jwt_key’ file is lacking, the script falls again to the string “notfound” as the key to confirm JWTs.
This mainly permits attackers to generate legitimate tokens with out understanding any secrets and techniques by merely utilizing ‘HS256’ and ‘notfound.’
Horizon3’s instance sends an HTTP POST request with a file add to the ‘/ap_spec_rec/add/’ endpoint by way of port 8443 and makes use of filename path traversal to drop an innocuous file (foo.txt) exterior the supposed listing.
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Supply: Horizon3
To escalate the file add flaw to distant code execution, the attacker might overwrite configuration recordsdata loaded by backend companies, drop internet shells, or abuse monitored recordsdata to set off unauthorized actions.
Horizon3’s instance abuses the ‘pvp.sh’ service that screens particular directories, overwrites the config recordsdata it will depend on, and triggers a reload even to run attacker instructions.
Given the elevated threat of exploitation, customers are beneficial to improve to a patched model (17.12.04 or newer) as quickly as potential.
As a short lived workaround, admins can flip off the Out-of-Band AP Picture Obtain function to shut the weak service.
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