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iOSOperating system · Cisco

CVE-2014-3359

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v2.0 Published 2014-09-25
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
Memory leak in Cisco IOS 15.1 through 15.4 and IOS XE 3.4.xS, 3.5.xS, 3.6.xS, and 3.7.xS before 3.7.6S; 3.8.xS, 3.9.xS, and 3.10.xS before 3.10.1S; and 3.11.xS before 3.12S allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (memory consumption or device reload) via malformed DHCPv6 packets, aka Bug ID CSCum90081.

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

A memory leak vulnerability exists in Cisco IOS 15.1 through 15.4 and IOS XE multiple versions that allows remote attackers to cause denial of service via malformed DHCPv6 packets. The vulnerability stems from improper handling of specially crafted DHCPv6 packets, leading to progressive memory consumption that can ultimately cause the device to reload.

MitigationApply the appropriate Cisco IOS/IOS XE software update as specified in the Cisco security advisory. As a temporary measure, consider filtering or rate-limiting DHCPv6 traffic at network perimeter devices until the patch can be deployed.

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:= 15.1= 15.2= 15.3= 15.4
Ios XeOperating system
Affected:= 3.4.0s= 3.4.1s= 3.4.2s= 3.4.3s= 3.4.4s= 3.4.5s= 3.5.0s= 3.5.1s= 3.5.2s= 3.6s\(.0\)= 3.6s\(.1\)= 3.6s\(.2\)

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. Determine the Cisco IOS version
    Log into the device and execute 'show version' to retrieve the running IOS version number
    Affected if The version output shows 15.1, 15.2, 15.3, or 15.4 (any subrelease within these major versions)
  2. Determine the Cisco IOS XE version
    Log into the device and execute 'show version' to retrieve the running IOS XE version number
    Affected if The version output shows 3.4.0s through 3.4.5s, 3.5.0s through 3.5.2s, or 3.6s(.0), 3.6s(.1), or 3.6s(.2)
  3. Verify DHCPv6 service is enabled
    Execute 'show ipv6 dhcp' or check the running configuration for any 'ipv6 dhcp' related commands to determine if DHCPv6 is configured
    Affected if DHCPv6 is enabled or configured on the device (the vulnerability only affects systems processing DHCPv6)
  4. Confirm the device processes DHCPv6 packets
    Check for active DHCPv6 bindings or traffic statistics using 'show ipv6 dhcp binding' or 'show ipv6 dhcp statistics'
    Affected if The device is actively processing or relay-ing DHCPv6 traffic (vulnerability requires the device to receive the malformed packets)

A device is affected if it runs a vulnerable IOS (15.1-15.4) or IOS XE (3.4.0s-3.6s.2) version AND has DHCPv6 enabled or configured to process DHCPv6 packets.

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

Apply the appropriate Cisco IOS/IOS XE software update as specified in the Cisco security advisory. As a temporary measure, consider filtering or rate-limiting DHCPv6 traffic at network perimeter devices until the patch can be deployed.

Fix this in iOS Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
12.0 hours of engineering $2,130
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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-2014-3359 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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