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Ios XeOperating system · Cisco

CVE-2017-6796

MEDIUM · 6.7 CVSS v3.0 Published 2017-09-07
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
69/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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
A vulnerability in the USB-modem code of Cisco IOS XE Software running on Cisco ASR 920 Series Aggregation Services Routers could allow an authenticated, local attacker to inject and execute arbitrary commands on the underlying operating system of an affected device. The vulnerability is due to improper input validation of the platform usb modem command in the CLI of the affected software. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by modifying the platform usb modem command in the CLI of an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to inject and execute arbitrary commands on the underlying operating system of an affected device. Cisco Bug IDs: CSCve48949.

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

Command injection vulnerability in Cisco IOS XE USB-modem functionality on ASR 920 routers. Authenticated local attacker can inject arbitrary OS commands via improper input validation in the 'platform usb modem' CLI command.

MitigationApply Cisco-supplied patch for IOS XE (refer to CSCve48949); restrict CLI access to trusted personnel and follow least-privilege principles pending patch deployment.

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
Ios XeOperating system
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
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
High
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

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 model
    Run 'show version' or 'show inventory' to confirm the hardware is a Cisco ASR 920 Series router
    Affected if Device is an ASR 920 router
  2. Confirm IOS XE is running
    Run 'show version' and look for 'IOS XE' in the software version output
    Affected if Software shows IOS XE (all versions are affected)
  3. Check if USB modem feature is configured
    Run 'show running-config | include usb modem' or 'show platform usb modem status' to see if USB modem functionality is enabled
    Affected if USB modem configuration exists in the running config
  4. Review current USB modem configuration
    Run 'show running-config | section platform usb modem' to display any existing USB modem settings
    Affected if Any 'platform usb modem' configuration is present

If the device is an ASR 920 router running IOS XE with any USB modem configuration present, the environment is affected by this vulnerability.

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 Cisco-supplied patch for IOS XE (refer to CSCve48949); restrict CLI access to trusted personnel and follow least-privilege principles pending patch deployment.

Fix this in Ios Xe Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
14.0 hours of engineering $2,490
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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-2017-6796 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
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