CVE-2025-20341: Cisco Catalyst Center Privilege Escalation

CVE-2025-20341 Overview

CVE-2025-20341 is a privilege escalation vulnerability in Cisco Catalyst Center Virtual Appliance. An authenticated remote attacker holding at least the Observer role can elevate privileges to Administrator by sending a crafted HTTP request. The flaw stems from insufficient validation of user-supplied input in the web management interface. Successful exploitation enables unauthorized modifications, including new user account creation and self-promotion to Administrator. The weakness is categorized under [CWE-284] Improper Access Control.

Critical Impact

An authenticated attacker with only Observer-level access can take full administrative control of the Cisco Catalyst Center Virtual Appliance, compromising network management and orchestration.

Affected Products

• Cisco Catalyst Center Virtual Appliance
• Cisco Catalyst Center web-based management interface
• Deployments where low-privilege accounts (Observer role) are provisioned

Discovery Timeline

• 2025-11-13 - CVE-2025-20341 published to NVD
• 2026-04-15 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-20341

Vulnerability Analysis

The vulnerability resides in the input validation logic of the Cisco Catalyst Center Virtual Appliance management interface. The application accepts authenticated HTTP requests without adequately enforcing role-based access controls on privileged operations. An attacker authenticated as an Observer, which is intended to be a read-only role, can submit a crafted request that triggers privileged backend functionality. The request bypasses the authorization layer that should restrict account management and role modification to Administrators.

Because the Catalyst Center orchestrates network device configuration and policy across the enterprise fabric, an Administrator on the appliance gains effective control over downstream managed infrastructure. This expands the practical blast radius well beyond the appliance itself.

Root Cause

The root cause is improper access control [CWE-284]. The application validates that a user is authenticated but does not consistently verify whether the authenticated principal has the privilege level required to perform the requested action. This authorization gap allows the Observer role to invoke administrative functions such as creating users or modifying role assignments.

Attack Vector

The attack vector is network-based and requires valid credentials for any account assigned the Observer role or higher. The attacker submits a crafted HTTP request to the appliance's management endpoint. No user interaction is required, and the attack complexity is low. The vulnerability does not require code execution primitives; abuse occurs entirely through the supported HTTP API surface.

No public proof-of-concept code or exploit has been published. Refer to the Cisco Security Advisory for vendor-supplied technical details.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-20341

Indicators of Compromise

• Unexpected user accounts created on the Catalyst Center appliance, especially with Administrator role
• Role changes applied to existing accounts that were not authorized through change-management processes
• HTTP requests to user management or role assignment endpoints originating from sessions authenticated as Observer-level accounts
• Audit log entries showing privileged actions attributed to low-privilege principals

Detection Strategies

• Review Catalyst Center audit logs for user creation and role modification events, correlating the acting principal's role against the action performed
• Alert on any account whose role transitions from Observer to Administrator outside of approved workflows
• Monitor authenticated HTTP traffic to administrative API paths for requests originating from accounts that should not exercise those endpoints

Monitoring Recommendations

• Forward Catalyst Center syslog and audit events to a centralized SIEM for retention and correlation
• Baseline normal administrative activity and alert on deviations in volume or source
• Track authentication events for Observer-role accounts and flag sessions that issue write operations

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-20341

Immediate Actions Required

• Upgrade Cisco Catalyst Center Virtual Appliance to the fixed release identified in the Cisco Security Advisory
• Audit all existing accounts and remove or disable Observer-role accounts that are no longer required
• Rotate credentials for any low-privilege accounts that may have been exposed or shared
• Review administrator account inventory for unauthorized additions

Patch Information

Cisco has published remediation guidance in the Cisco Security Advisory cisco-sa-catc-priv-esc-VS8EeCuX. Apply the fixed software version specified in the advisory. No vendor-endorsed workarounds are listed; patching is the recommended remediation path.

Workarounds

• Restrict network access to the Catalyst Center management interface to trusted administrative networks only
• Enforce multi-factor authentication on all Catalyst Center accounts, including Observer-role users
• Minimize the number of provisioned Observer accounts and apply least-privilege principles to all role assignments

# Example: restrict management interface access via upstream ACL
# Replace <mgmt_subnet> with your administrative network and <catc_ip> with the appliance IP
access-list 110 permit tcp <mgmt_subnet> 0.0.0.255 host <catc_ip> eq 443
access-list 110 deny   tcp any host <catc_ip> eq 443
access-list 110 permit ip any any