NVD’s Blind Spot: 8 Cisco Vulnerabilities Unflagged Due to Missing CVE — Revealed by DeviceTotal
Eight Cisco vulnerabilities (CVE‑2025‑20169 through CVE‑2025‑20176) were published without CPE configuration in the NVD, making them invisible to scanners and asset tools that rely on CPE-based matching. DeviceTotal bridged this gap by mapping the correct firmware version (IOS 15.9(3)m3) using Cisco’s official advisory, giving the customer full visibility and enabling accurate and timely remediation. NVD added the CPEs in July, with a 4-month delay.
The DeviceTotal Advantage
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Without DeviceTotal
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With DeviceTotal
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The Security Gap
- Device in Use: Undisclosed Cisco device running IOS 15.9(3)m3
- Search Source: NVD
- Result: 8 CVEs related to Cisco SNMP DoS were not mapped to any CPEs in NVD until July 3 2025, although a Cisco advisory existed since February, same year
- Note: NVD did link to the Cisco security advisory, but without a CPE list of affected devices, automated solutions were blind to this discovery
The Reality Found by DeviceTotal
DeviceTotal actively monitors vendor advisories and does not rely solely on NVD product mappings. Our platform extracted affected versions directly from Cisco’s advisory:
- Mapped all 8 vulnerabilities to relevant firmware (15.9(3)m3)
- Ensured the customer focused remediation efforts only on real exposures
- Source: Cisco PSIRT
On July 3rd, almost 4 months after the vulnerabilities were disclosed by Cisco, the NVD updated its database and included a list of affected CPEs.
Note: The linked example represents just 1 out of 8 CVEs that were updated on the same day. You can check each of the remaining Vulnerability Change Records on the links below:
CVE-2025-20170
CVE-2025-20171
CVE-2025-20172
CVE-2025-20173
CVE-2025-20175
CVE-2025-20176
Outcome
DeviceTotal surfaced vulnerabilities that NVD‑driven tools simply couldn’t see. By filling the CPE gap left in the public CVE records, we enabled our customer to:
- Detect the eight real SNMP DoS CVEs affecting IOS 15.9(3)M3
- Prioritize and patch on time instead of assuming “no risk”
- Prove due‑diligence in internal and third‑party audits despite the NVD omission
- Eliminate the need for manual CPE research or custom scripts to keep Cisco devices protected
In short, DeviceTotal turned an invisible risk into an actionable fix.
Why It Matters?
DeviceTotal’s intelligence engine monitors not only NVD, but:
- Official vendor advisories
- Non-reporting vendors
- Zero-day alerts
- Enriched private and classified feeds
This enables full-spectrum coverage with:
- Daily intelligence updates
- Risk scoring matched to specific firmware versions
- Visibility across IoT, OT, network, and security devices
- Mitigation paths even when NVD is incomplete or incorrect
