CVE-2018-0171

CRITICAL CISA KEV

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.

Published: Mar 28, 2018 Modified: Jun 17, 2026

CWE-20 CWE-787

CVSS Metrics

CVSSv3

Attack Vector: NETWORK Attack Complexity: LOW Privileges Required: NONE User Interaction: NONE Scope: UNCHANGED Confidentiality Impact: HIGH Integrity Impact: HIGH Availability Impact: HIGH

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Affected Products (1)

Vendor	Product	Version
cisco	ios	15.2\(5\)e

GitHub Security Advisory GHSA-4w6g-87mh-x63x

A vulnerability in the Smart Install feature of Cisco IOS Software and Cisco IOS XE Software...

References (13)

http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/103538 Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
http://www.securitytracker.com/id/1040580 Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
https://ics-cert.us-cert.gov/advisories/ICSA-18-107-04 Third Party Advisory, US Government Resource
https://ics-cert.us-cert.gov/advisories/ICSA-18-107-05 Third Party Advisory, US Government Resource
https://tools.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-20180328-smi2 Vendor Advisory
https://www.darkreading.com/perimeter/attackers-exploit-cisco-switch-issue-as-vendor-warns-of-yet-another-critical-flaw/d/d-id/1331490 Press/Media Coverage
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/103538 Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
http://www.securitytracker.com/id/1040580 Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
https://ics-cert.us-cert.gov/advisories/ICSA-18-107-04 Third Party Advisory, US Government Resource
https://ics-cert.us-cert.gov/advisories/ICSA-18-107-05 Third Party Advisory, US Government Resource
https://tools.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-20180328-smi2 Vendor Advisory
https://www.darkreading.com/perimeter/attackers-exploit-cisco-switch-issue-as-vendor-warns-of-yet-another-critical-flaw/d/d-id/1331490 Press/Media Coverage
https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2018-0171 US Government Resource

Risk Scores

CVSS Score 9.8 / 10

EPSS Score 99.49%

Top 0% most likely to be exploited

Threat Score 99 / 100

CISA Known Exploited

Date Added: 2021-11-03

Due Date: 2022-05-03

Required Action:

Apply updates per vendor instructions.

Data Sources

NVD CISA KEV EPSS GitHub