dbcve.org
Cisco Ons 15454 System SoftwareOperating system · Cisco

CVE-2013-6701

MEDIUM · 5.0 CVSS v2.0 Published 2013-12-18
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
59/100
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
The tNetTaskLimit process on the Transport Node Controller (TNC) on Cisco ONS 15454 devices with software 9.6 and earlier does not properly prioritize health pings, which allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (watchdog timeout and TNC reset) via a flood of network traffic, aka Bug ID CSCud97155.

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 tNetTaskLimit process on the Transport Node Controller (TNC) in Cisco ONS 15454 devices with software 9.6 and earlier fails to properly prioritize health pings. When an attacker floods the network with traffic, the health pings are not processed in time, causing the watchdog timer to expire and triggering a TNC reset, resulting in denial of service.

MitigationUpgrade Cisco ONS 15454 software to a version newer than 9.6, or apply the relevant Cisco patch for Bug ID CSCud97155. If immediate upgrade is not possible, implement network segmentation and rate-limiting to reduce exposure to flood attacks.

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
Cisco Ons 15454 System SoftwareOperating system
Affected:= 9.0= 9.1= 9.2= 9.2.1= 9.2.2= 9.3= 9.4= 9.6
Ons 15454 MsppOperating system
Affected:all versions
Ons 15454 MstpOperating system
Affected:all versions
Ons 15454e Optical Transport PlatformOperating system
Affected:all versions
Ons 15454Hardware / appliance
Affected:all versions
Ons 15454 Multiservice Transport PlatformHardware / appliance
Affected:all versions
Ons 15454 Sdh Multiservice Provisioning PlatformHardware / appliance
Affected:all versions
Ons 15454 Sonet Multiservice Provisioning PlatformHardware / 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
None
Integrity
None
Availability
Partial

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

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 device model
    Check if the device is a Cisco ONS 15454, ONS 15454e, ONS 15454 Mspp, ONS 15454 Mstp, or related variant. Use 'show version' or check the hardware label.
    Affected if Device is any Cisco ONS 15454 variant (ONS 15454, ONS 15454e, ONS 15454 Mspp, ONS 15454 Mstp, or related multiservice transport platforms).
  2. Check the software version
    Execute 'show version' or 'show software version' on the device CLI to identify the installed Cisco ONS 15454 System Software version.
    Affected if Software version is 9.0, 9.1, 9.2, 9.2.1, 9.2.2, 9.3, 9.4, or 9.6. Note: variants listed as 'all versions' are affected regardless of version number.
  3. Verify Transport Node Controller is active
    Confirm the TNC (Transport Node Controller) process is running on the device. Use commands such as 'show process tnc' or 'show tncn' if available in the CLI.
    Affected if The TNC process is active, which is the default operational state for affected devices.
  4. Check watchdog timer configuration
    Inspect watchdog monitoring status for the TNC process. Look for watchdog-related configuration or status using 'show watchdog' or similar diagnostic commands.
    Affected if Watchdog monitoring is enabled for the TNC, which is the default configuration.
  5. Review recent TNC reset events
    Examine system logs and event history for TNC resets or watchdog timeout events using 'show log' or 'show alarms history'.
    Affected if There are recent TNC resets or watchdog expiration events without an obvious external cause.

The environment is affected if the device is a Cisco ONS 15454 variant running software version 9.6 or earlier, or any version for the variants listed as 'all versions', with TNC and watchdog monitoring 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
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Upgrade Cisco ONS 15454 software to a version newer than 9.6, or apply the relevant Cisco patch for Bug ID CSCud97155. If immediate upgrade is not possible, implement network segmentation and rate-limiting to reduce exposure to flood attacks.

Fix this in Cisco Ons 15454 System Software Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
7.0 hours of engineering $1,240
Get help mitigating

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,984.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2013-6701 — 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-2013-6701 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