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HIGH Actively exploited CWE-20

CVE-2018-0171

Cisco IOS and IOS XE Software Smart Install Remote Code Execution Vulnerability

Cisco·IOS and IOS XE

7.5/ 10
CVSS 3.1
High severity
99%
EPSS exploit odds
Chance of exploitation in the next 30 days
Higher than 99.9% of all CVEs
Listed
CISA KEV catalog
Added
Nov 3, 2021
Fix due
May 3, 2022
Ransomware
Not known
Timeline
Published
Mar 28, 2018
Updated
Jan 12, 2026
First covered
Jul 13, 2026
Latest story
4 months ago

Summary

A vulnerability in the Smart Install feature of Cisco IOS Software and Cisco IOS XE Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to trigger a reload of an affected device, resulting in a denial of service (DoS) condition, or to execute arbitrary code on an affected device. The vulnerability is due to improper validation of packet data. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a crafted Smart Install message to an affected device on TCP port 4786. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause a buffer overflow on the affected device, which could have the following impacts: Triggering a reload of the device, Allowing the attacker to execute arbitrary code on the device, Causing an indefinite loop on the affected device that triggers a watchdog crash. Cisco Bug IDs: CSCvg76186.

Attack profile

Attack vectorNetwork
ComplexityLow
PrivilegesNone
User interactionNone
ScopeUnchanged
ConfidentialityNone
IntegrityNone
AvailabilityHigh
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

CISA required action

Apply updates per vendor instructions.

Affected products

  • Cisco IOS and IOS XECisco IOS and IOS XE

References

CVE.org recordcve.org NVD entrynvd.nist.gov CISA KEV listingcisa.gov X_refsource_MISCics-cert.us-cert.gov 1040580securitytracker.com X_refsource_CONFIRMtools.cisco.com X_refsource_MISCdarkreading.com X_refsource_MISCics-cert.us-cert.gov 103538securityfocus.com
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