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iOSOperating system · Cisco

CVE-2012-0385

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v2.0 Published 2012-03-29
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
87/100
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
The Smart Install feature in Cisco IOS 12.2, 15.0, 15.1, and 15.2 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (device reload) by sending a malformed Smart Install message over TCP, aka Bug ID CSCtt16051.

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

The Smart Install feature in Cisco IOS versions 12.2, 15.0, 15.1, and 15.2 contains a vulnerability that allows remote attackers to cause denial of service by sending malformed Smart Install messages over TCP, resulting in device reload.

MitigationDisable the Smart Install feature on affected Cisco IOS devices if not required, or apply Cisco IOS software updates that address this vulnerability.

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:= 12.2= 15.0= 15.1= 15.2

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
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 checks

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

  1. Identify Cisco IOS version
    Execute 'show version' on the device CLI and locate the IOS version string in the output
    Affected if The version begins with 12.2, 15.0, 15.1, or 15.2
  2. Verify Smart Install feature status
    Execute 'show vstack' or 'show running-config | include vstack' to check if Smart Install is enabled
    Affected if Smart Install is active or configured on the device
  3. Confirm TCP port 4786 availability
    Check if TCP port 4786 (the Smart Install port) is listening or accessible on the device using 'show control-plane host open-ports' or similar
    Affected if Port 4786 is open and accepting connections on the device

The device is affected if it runs Cisco IOS version 12.2, 15.0, 15.1, or 15.2 AND has the Smart Install feature enabled and accessible.

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

Disable the Smart Install feature on affected Cisco IOS devices if not required, or apply Cisco IOS software updates that address this vulnerability.

Fix this in iOS Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
15.0 hours of engineering $2,640
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An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $4,224.

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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-2012-0385 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
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data