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CVE-2018-0171

CRITICAL
9.8
CVSS Score
Published: March 28, 2018 at 10:00 PM UTC
Updated: June 17, 2026 at 01:29 AM UTC
2 products affected across 1 vendorIOSIOS Xe

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Severity
CRITICAL9.8
Exploitation
CISA KEV
Exploit prediction
EPSS 99%
SSVC
Active

Actively Exploited

CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) Catalog

EPSS Score99.5%

EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) estimates a 99.5% chance this CVE is exploited in the wild within the next 30 days — higher than 100% of all CVEs. It complements CVSS: a high EPSS on a mid-severity CVE can still be urgent.

Cisco IOS and IOS XE Software improperly validates packet data, allowing an unauthenticated, remote attacker to trigger a reload of an affected device, cause a denial-of-service (DoS) condition, or perform code execution on the affected device.

Required Action
Apply updates per vendor instructions.
Ransomware Use
Unknown
Added to KEV
Nov 3, 2021
Remediation Due
May 3, 2022
1638 days overdue
Notes
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2018-0171

Description

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.

Affected

Our own answer: ranges merged, affected separated from platform-only, with confidence and review flags.

Remediation

No guide yet

No remediation guidance has been written for this CVE yet. What the record does show:

Patch and advisory references

References (7)

VDB Entryx_refsource_BIDThird Party Advisory
Source: [email protected]
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/103538
VDB Entryx_refsource_SECTRACKThird Party Advisory
Source: [email protected]
http://www.securitytracker.com/id/1040580
x_refsource_MISCThird Party AdvisoryUS Government Resource
Source: [email protected]
https://ics-cert.us-cert.gov/advisories/ICSA-18-107-04
x_refsource_MISCThird Party AdvisoryUS Government Resource
Source: [email protected]
https://ics-cert.us-cert.gov/advisories/ICSA-18-107-05
x_refsource_CONFIRMVendor Advisory
Source: [email protected]
https://tools.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-20180328-smi2
x_refsource_MISCPress/Media Coverage
Source: [email protected]
https://www.darkreading.com/perimeter/attackers-exploit-cisco-switch-issue-as-vendor-warns-of-yet-another-critical-flaw/d/d-id/1331490
US Government Resource
Source: 134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0
https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2018-0171

SSVC — Action Prioritization

SSVCActiveAutomatableTotal impact

SSVC signals action urgency (what to patch first), separate from CVSS which measures severity.

CVSS

9.8CRITICAL[email protected]
Attack Vector
NETWORK
Complexity
LOW
Privileges
NONE
User Interaction
NONE
Scope
UNCHANGED
Confidentiality
HIGH
Integrity
HIGH
Availability
HIGH
Vector?

Quick Info

StatusANALYZED
CWE
CWE-20CWE-787

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