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iOSOperating system · Cisco

CVE-2015-0648

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v2.0 Published 2015-03-26
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 12.2, 12.4, 15.0, 15.2, and 15.3 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (memory consumption) via crafted Common Industrial Protocol (CIP) TCP packets, aka Bug ID CSCun49658.

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 versions 12.2, 12.4, 15.0, 15.2, and 15.3 when processing crafted Common Industrial Protocol (CIP) TCP packets. Remote attackers can send specially malformed CIP packets causing memory consumption that leads to denial of service. The vulnerability is in the CIP traffic handling component of the IOS kernel.

MitigationApply the appropriate Cisco IOS security update or upgrade to a patched version. If immediate patching is not possible, filter or block untrusted CIP TCP traffic at network boundaries and implement network segmentation to limit exposure to 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
iOSOperating system
Affected:= 12.2\(33\)ird1= 12.2\(33\)ire3= 12.2\(33\)sxi4b= 12.2\(44\)ex= 12.2\(44\)ex1= 12.2\(44\)sq1= 12.2\(46\)se= 12.2\(46\)se1= 12.2\(46\)se2= 12.2\(50\)se= 12.2\(50\)se1= 12.2\(50\)se2

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 release line (e.g., 'Cisco IOS Software, Version 15.2(4)E' or similar)
    Affected if The version matches or falls within the affected 12.2, 12.4, 15.0, 15.2, or 15.3 trains, particularly the specific releases listed (such as 12.2(33)ird1, 12.2(33)ire3, 12.2(33)sxi4b, 12.2(44)ex, 12.2(46)se, 12.2(50)se, 15.0, 15.2, 15.3)
  2. Verify CIP protocol is enabled
    Execute 'show running-config | include cip' or 'show running-config | include cip' to search for CIP-related configuration lines in the active IOS configuration
    Affected if CIP protocol configuration is present and the device is configured to process CIP traffic
  3. Confirm CIP TCP listener is active
    Execute 'show cip tcp' or 'show sockets' (if available) to check if the device is listening on CIP TCP port 44818
    Affected if The device has an active CIP TCP listener accepting connections
  4. Check for memory anomalies
    Execute 'show process memory' or 'show memory summary' and compare current memory usage to baseline levels, looking for unusually high memory consumption that does not decrease over time
    Affected if Memory usage is abnormally high and持续增长 (continuously increasing) without returning to baseline, especially in the system/IO memory pools
  5. Review CIP traffic statistics
    Execute 'show cip statistics' or 'show ip sockets' to examine CIP packet counters and look for recent spikes in CIP traffic or malformed packet errors
    Affected if The device shows high CIP packet processing volume or error counters for malformed CIP packets

A device is affected if it runs a vulnerable Cisco IOS version (12.2, 12.4, 15.0, 15.2, or 15.3 trains including the specific releases listed) AND has CIP protocol enabled with an active TCP listener processing CIP traffic.

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 security update or upgrade to a patched version. If immediate patching is not possible, filter or block untrusted CIP TCP traffic at network boundaries and implement network segmentation to limit exposure to affected devices.

Fix this in iOS Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
22.0 hours of engineering $3,860
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Scan for this in your stack

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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-2015-0648 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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