iOSOperating system · Cisco
CVE-2010-4686
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 · uneditedCallManager Express (CME) on Cisco IOS before 15.0(1)XA1 does not properly handle SIP TRUNK traffic that contains rate bursts and a "peculiar" request size, which allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (memory consumption) by sending this traffic over a long duration, aka Bug ID CSCtb47950.
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 · moderate confidenceCallManager Express (CME) on Cisco IOS versions prior to 15.0(1)XA1 contains a memory consumption vulnerability when processing SIP TRUNK traffic containing rate bursts combined with unusually-sized requests over extended periods. The vulnerability allows remote attackers to trigger excessive memory allocation by sending specially crafted SIP traffic, potentially leading to denial of service.
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
< 15.0\(1\)xa1CVSS 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
- Low
- Authentication
- None
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- Complete
AV:N/AC:L/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Confirm CallManager Express is runningRun 'show telephony-service' or check running config for 'telephony-service' keyword to verify CME is configured on the deviceAffected if CME is configured and running on the device
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Check the Cisco IOS versionRun 'show version' and examine the IOS release number displayed in the first line of outputAffected if The IOS version is earlier than 15.0(1)XA1 (for example, 12.4, 12.5, 14.x, or any 15.0 version prior to 15.0(1)XA1)
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Verify SIP protocol is enabledRun 'show sip-ua status' or check running config for 'sip' related commands such as 'voice class sip', 'sip trunk', or 'sip-server' configurationAffected if SIP is enabled and configured on the device (CME uses SIP for call control on trunk interfaces)
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Check for SIP trunk configurationRun 'show running-config | include sip-trunk' or look for 'sip trunk' statements in the running configurationAffected if SIP trunk interfaces are configured, as the vulnerability specifically affects SIP TRUNK traffic processing
A device is affected if it runs Cisco IOS prior to 15.0(1)XA1, has CallManager Express enabled, and has SIP trunk configuration present, as the vulnerability is triggered by malicious SIP traffic on trunk interfaces.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 data15.0
Upgrade Cisco IOS on affected CallManager Express devices to version 15.0(1)XA1 or later. If immediate patching is not feasible, consider implementing rate limiting on SIP trunk interfaces or using firewall/IPS solutions to filter suspicious SIP traffic patterns.
Fix this in iOS
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,648.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2010-4686 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2010-4686 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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