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Nx OsOperating system · Cisco

CVE-2015-4197

MEDIUM · 6.1 CVSS v2.0 Published 2015-06-20
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
66/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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 NX-OS 5.2(5) on Nexus 7000 devices allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (device crash) by sending a malformed LLDP packet on the local network, aka Bug ID CSCud89415.

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

This is a denial of service vulnerability in Cisco NX-OS version 5.2(5) running on Nexus 7000 series switches. Attackers on the local network can send malformed LLDP (Link Layer Discovery Protocol) packets to trigger a device crash. LLDP is a Layer 2 discovery protocol used for advertising device identity to neighboring devices.

MitigationApply the Cisco patch for NX-OS 5.2(5) addressing Bug ID CSCud89415. If patching is not immediately feasible, consider disabling LLDP on untrusted interfaces or implementing network access controls to limit LLDP packet exposure to trusted segments.

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
Nx OsOperating system
Affected:= 5.2\(5\)

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
Adjacent
Complexity
Low
Authentication
None
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
Complete

AV:A/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. Verify NX-OS version
    Run 'show version' on the switch CLI to display the installed NX-OS software version
    Affected if The displayed version shows exactly 5.2(5)
  2. Confirm Nexus 7000 series model
    Run 'show version' or 'show module' to identify the hardware platform. Look for Nexus 7000, 7009, 7010, 7018, or 7700 in the output
    Affected if The device is a Nexus 7000 series switch
  3. Check LLDP protocol status
    Run 'show lldp status' to determine if LLDP is globally enabled on the device
    Affected if LLDP is globally enabled (output shows 'LLDP is enabled')
  4. Verify LLDP is running on interfaces
    Run 'show lldp interface' to see which interfaces have LLDP transmission/reception enabled
    Affected if At least one interface has LLDP enabled for transmit or receive

Your environment is affected if you are running exactly NX-OS version 5.2(5) on a Nexus 7000 series switch with LLDP enabled on any interface, as the malformed LLDP packet DoS can only trigger when LLDP is 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

Apply the Cisco patch for NX-OS 5.2(5) addressing Bug ID CSCud89415. If patching is not immediately feasible, consider disabling LLDP on untrusted interfaces or implementing network access controls to limit LLDP packet exposure to trusted segments.

Fix this in Nx Os 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-2015-4197 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
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data