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Cisco Policy Suite Diameter Routing AgentApplication · Cisco

CVE-2018-0181

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2019-01-10
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
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
A vulnerability in the Redis implementation used by the Cisco Policy Suite for Mobile and Cisco Policy Suite Diameter Routing Agent software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to modify key-value pairs for short-lived events stored by the Redis server. The vulnerability is due to improper authentication when accessing the Redis server. An unauthenticated attacker could exploit this vulnerability by modifying key-value pairs stored within the Redis server database. An exploit could allow the attacker to reduce the efficiency of the Cisco Policy Suite for Mobile and Cisco Policy Suite Diameter Routing Agent software.

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 vulnerability exists in the Redis implementation bundled with Cisco Policy Suite for Mobile and Cisco Policy Suite Diameter Routing Agent. The Redis server lacks proper authentication controls, allowing any remote attacker to connect without credentials and modify key-value pairs stored in the Redis database. Since the application relies on Redis for storing short-lived events, an attacker can manipulate this data to degrade the efficiency and operation of the Cisco Policy Suite software.

MitigationApply the relevant Cisco security patches for CVE-2018-0181 to the affected Policy Suite installations. Additionally, ensure Redis authentication is enabled and restrict Redis network access to only trusted internal hosts via firewall rules or network segmentation.

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 Policy Suite Diameter Routing AgentApplication
Affected:all versions
Cisco Policy Suite For MobileApplication
Affected:= 13.0.0

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
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/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 Cisco Policy Suite installation
    Check for presence of Cisco Policy Suite directories or running processes (e.g., look for 'policy suite', 'cps', 'diameter' in process list or installed software)
    Affected if Cisco Policy Suite Diameter Routing Agent or Cisco Policy Suite For Mobile version 13.0.0 is installed
  2. Locate bundled Redis instance
    Check for Redis server process (redis-server) or default ports (6379) running on the Policy Suite host, or check common installation paths for Redis within CPS directories
    Affected if Redis server is running on the system, particularly on ports accessible to network
  3. Verify Redis authentication is disabled
    Attempt to connect to Redis (e.g., redis-cli -h <localhost or relevant IP>) without providing any password - if connection succeeds and AUTH command returns error indicating no password required, authentication is not enforced
    Affected if Redis accepts connections without requiring authentication (no password set)
  4. Check Redis network binding
    Examine Redis configuration (redis.conf) for 'bind' directive - check if bound to 0.0.0.0 or an externally accessible IP rather than localhost only, or test remote connectivity to Redis port 6379 from an untrusted host
    Affected if Redis is bound to a non-loopback address or is accessible from untrusted networks

User is affected if Cisco Policy Suite (Diameter Routing Agent any version, or For Mobile 13.0.0) is installed with Redis that accepts unauthenticated remote connections.

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 relevant Cisco security patches for CVE-2018-0181 to the affected Policy Suite installations. Additionally, ensure Redis authentication is enabled and restrict Redis network access to only trusted internal hosts via firewall rules or network segmentation.

Fix this in Cisco Policy Suite Diameter Routing Agent Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation8.0 h
  • Implementation12.0 h
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
32.0 hours of engineering $5,680
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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-2018-0181 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