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iOSOperating system · Cisco

CVE-2013-5552

MEDIUM · 6.4 CVSS v2.0 Published 2013-11-13
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 12.4 or later.
See remediation →
73/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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 12.4(24)MDB9 and earlier on Content Services Gateway (CSG) devices does not properly implement the "parse error drop" feature, which allows remote attackers to bypass intended access restrictions via a crafted series of packets, aka Bug ID CSCug90143.

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 confidence

Cisco IOS 12.4(24)MDB9 and earlier on Content Services Gateway (CSG) devices contains a flaw in the 'parse error drop' feature implementation. This feature, intended to drop packets that fail parsing and enforce access restrictions, can be bypassed by remote attackers sending crafted packet sequences that evade the parse error detection mechanism.

MitigationApply the appropriate Cisco IOS patch for Bug ID CSCug90143 to address the improper parse error drop implementation. If patching is immediately infeasible, implement additional network-layer access controls and ingress filtering to reduce attack surface on CSG 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
iOSOperating system
Affected:<= 12.4\(24\)mdb14= 12.4\(24\)md= 12.4\(24\)md1= 12.4\(24\)md2= 12.4\(24\)md3= 12.4\(24\)md4= 12.4\(24\)md5= 12.4\(24\)md5a= 12.4\(24\)md6= 12.4\(24\)md7= 12.4\(24\)md8= 12.4\(24\)md9
Content Services GatewayHardware / appliance
Affected:all versions

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
Partial
Integrity
Partial
Availability
None

AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:N

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 device type
    Check if the device is a Cisco Content Services Gateway (CSG) by examining the hardware model or using 'show version' command to confirm the platform name
    Affected if Device is a Cisco Content Services Gateway (any version)
  2. Check IOS version
    Execute 'show version' on the device and locate the IOS release number in the output. Compare the version string against the affected ranges: 12.4(24)MDB9 and earlier, or any of 12.4(24)md through 12.4(24)md9, 12.4(24)md5a, 12.4(24)mdb14
    Affected if IOS version matches <=12.4(24)mdb14 or equals 12.4(24)md through 12.4(24)md9, 12.4(24)md5a, or 12.4(24)mdb9
  3. Locate parse error drop configuration
    Execute 'show running-config | include parse' or 'show running-config all' and search for parse error drop related commands or features in the configuration
    Affected if A parse error drop feature is configured on the device
  4. Verify parse error drop is active
    Check the current configuration state using 'show parser statistics' or examine ACL/policy configurations that reference parse error handling. Confirm the feature is actively applied to traffic flows
    Affected if Parse error drop feature is actively applied to traffic processing

Device is affected if it is a Cisco Content Services Gateway (any version) OR runs an affected Cisco IOS version (12.4(24)md through 12.4(24)md9/12.4(24)mdb14 or earlier), AND the parse error drop feature is configured and active.

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
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 12.4
Interim mitigation

Apply the appropriate Cisco IOS patch for Bug ID CSCug90143 to address the improper parse error drop implementation. If patching is immediately infeasible, implement additional network-layer access controls and ingress filtering to reduce attack surface on CSG devices.

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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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-2013-5552 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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  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data