dbcve.org
Ios XeOperating system · Cisco

CVE-2013-5475

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v2.0 Published 2013-09-27
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
Cisco IOS 12.2 through 12.4 and 15.0 through 15.3, and IOS XE 2.1 through 3.9, allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (device reload) via crafted DHCP packets that are processed locally by a (1) server or (2) relay agent, aka Bug ID CSCug31561.

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

Cisco IOS 12.2-12.4 and 15.0-15.3, along with IOS XE 2.1-3.9, contains a denial of service vulnerability in the DHCP server and relay agent processing code. Remote attackers can send specially crafted DHCP packets to the device, which when processed locally cause an unexpected reload of the device.

MitigationUpgrade to a patched Cisco IOS/IOS XE version per Cisco's advisory. As an interim measure, restrict DHCP traffic at network boundaries using ACLs to prevent unauthenticated DHCP packets from reaching affected devices.

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
Ios XeOperating system
Affected:= 2.1.0= 2.1.1= 2.1.2= 2.2.1= 2.2.2= 2.2.3= 2.3.0= 2.3.1= 2.3.1t= 2.3.2= 2.4.0= 2.4.1
iOSOperating system
Affected:= 12.2= 12.3= 12.4= 15.0= 15.1= 15.2= 15.3

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 the Cisco IOS/IOS XE version
    Run 'show version' or 'show version | include Version' command on the device CLI
    Affected if The displayed version falls within 12.2, 12.3, 12.4, 15.0, 15.1, 15.2, 15.3 for IOS, or 2.1.x through 3.9.x for IOS XE
  2. Determine if DHCP server is enabled
    Run 'show ip dhcp server' or check configuration with 'show run | include dhcp'
    Affected if DHCP server configuration appears in the running configuration (ip dhcp pool, ip dhcp excluded-address, etc.)
  3. Determine if DHCP relay agent is enabled
    Run 'show run | include ip helper-address' or check interface configurations for helper addresses
    Affected if Any interface has 'ip helper-address' configured, which enables DHCP relay agent functionality
  4. Check for recent unexpected reloads
    Run 'show logging | include reload' or 'show version' to view last reload reason
    Affected if There are unexplained reloads or the reload reason indicates a watchdog timeout or crash without a known cause

A device is affected if it runs a vulnerable IOS/IOS XE version AND has either the DHCP server or DHCP relay agent (ip helper-address) feature enabled, as either feature processes DHCP packets that could trigger the vulnerability.

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

Upgrade to a patched Cisco IOS/IOS XE version per Cisco's advisory. As an interim measure, restrict DHCP traffic at network boundaries using ACLs to prevent unauthenticated DHCP packets from reaching affected devices.

Fix this in Ios Xe 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
Get help mitigating

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $4,224.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2013-5475 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

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-2013-5475 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

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