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iOSOperating system · Cisco

CVE-2008-3802

HIGH · 7.1 CVSS v2.0 Published 2008-09-26
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
80/100
Remediation priority · High
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
Unspecified vulnerability in the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) implementation in Cisco IOS 12.2 through 12.4, when VoIP is configured, allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (device reload) via unspecified valid SIP messages, aka Cisco bug ID CSCsk42759, a different vulnerability than CVE-2008-3800 and CVE-2008-3801.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

A denial-of-service vulnerability exists in Cisco IOS 12.2 through 12.4 Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) implementation when VoIP is configured. The flaw allows remote attackers to cause device reload by sending unspecified valid SIP messages, resulting in complete service disruption.

MitigationApply the appropriate Cisco IOS software update from Cisco's advisory for CSCsk42759. If immediate patching is not feasible, consider implementing ACLs to restrict SIP traffic sources or temporarily disable VoIP functionality until the upgrade can be scheduled.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
iOSOperating system
Affected:= 12.2b= 12.2bx= 12.2by= 12.2cz= 12.2mc= 12.2t= 12.2tpc= 12.2xb= 12.2xm= 12.2xt= 12.2xu= 12.2xw

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
M
Authentication
None
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
Complete

AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:C

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify the Cisco IOS version
    Run 'show version' on the device CLI and note the exact IOS release number (e.g., 12.2(15)T, 12.2(14)BZ, etc.)
    Affected if The version matches or falls within the affected 12.2 train variants listed (12.2b, 12.2bx, 12.2by, 12.2cz, 12.2mc, 12.2t, 12.2tpc, 12.2xb, 12.2xm, 12.2xt, 12.2xu, 12.2xw) or is any 12.2 through 12.4 version with SIP functionality enabled
  2. Verify if SIP is configured
    Run 'show running-config | include sip' or 'show voip sip' to check for SIP protocol configuration on the device
    Affected if SIP protocol configuration is present and enabled on the device
  3. Confirm VoIP is active
    Run 'show voip connections' or 'show telephony-service' to verify VoIP functionality is actively configured
    Affected if VoIP/SIP calls or sessions are active or VoIP telephony service is configured
  4. Check SIP transport and listening status
    Run 'show sip-ua transport' or 'show sip-ua status' to determine if the device is listening for SIP connections on UDP/TCP ports 5060 or 5061
    Affected if The SIP user agent is bound to listening ports and accepting SIP traffic from network interfaces
  5. Identify exposed SIP interfaces
    Run 'show running-config interface' for relevant interfaces and check for 'sip' under voice-related configurations, or verify ACLs permit SIP traffic (UDP port 5060) from untrusted sources
    Affected if SIP traffic is permitted from external or untrusted networks without filtering ACLs

The device is affected if it runs a vulnerable 12.2-12.4 IOS version AND has SIP/VoIP configured with the SIP service exposed to network traffic, allowing remote attackers to trigger device reload via crafted SIP messages.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Apply the appropriate Cisco IOS software update from Cisco's advisory for CSCsk42759. If immediate patching is not feasible, consider implementing ACLs to restrict SIP traffic sources or temporarily disable VoIP functionality until the upgrade can be scheduled.

Fix this in iOS Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
20.0 hours of engineering $3,500
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2008-3802 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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