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Ios XeOperating system · Cisco

CVE-2018-0186

MEDIUM · 6.1 CVSS v3.0 Published 2018-03-28
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 16.3.6 or later.
See remediation →
68/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable No privileges

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
Multiple vulnerabilities in the web-based user interface (web UI) of Cisco IOS XE Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to conduct a cross-site scripting (XSS) attack against a user of the web UI of the affected software. The vulnerabilities are due to insufficient input validation of certain parameters that are passed to the affected software via the web UI. An attacker could exploit these vulnerabilities by persuading a user of the affected UI to access a malicious link or by intercepting a user request for the affected UI and injecting malicious code into the request. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary script code in the context of the affected UI or allow the attacker to access sensitive browser-based information on the user's system. Cisco Bug IDs: CSCuz38591, CSCvb09530, CSCvb10022.

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

Multiple cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerabilities in Cisco IOS XE Software web-based user interface due to insufficient input validation of parameters passed via the web UI. An unauthenticated remote attacker can inject malicious script code by persuading a user to access a malicious link or by intercepting and injecting code into user requests, potentially executing arbitrary scripts in the user's browser context or accessing sensitive browser-based information.

MitigationUpgrade to a patched version of Cisco IOS XE Software that addresses these vulnerabilities, or disable the web UI if not required, or implement web application firewall/input validation controls as an interim measure.

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:< 16.3.6

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
Required
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
Low
Integrity
Low
Availability
None

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

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 if the device runs Cisco IOS XE
    Run 'show version' or 'show inventory' to confirm the device runs Cisco IOS XE software. Look for 'IOS XE' in the output.
    Affected if The device is not running Cisco IOS XE (this CVE only affects IOS XE)
  2. Check the Cisco IOS XE version
    Run 'show version' and locate the version string (e.g., 16.3.5). Compare it against the affected range of versions earlier than 16.3.6.
    Affected if The installed version is earlier than 16.3.6 (e.g., 16.3.5, 16.3.4, etc.)
  3. Determine if the web UI is enabled
    Run 'show ip http server status' or 'show running-config | include ip http' to check if the HTTP or HTTPS web interface is enabled.
    Affected if HTTP or HTTPS server is enabled (the web UI must be accessible for the XSS to be exploitable)
  4. Check for external web UI access
    Review the configuration with 'show running-config | include ip http' and check interface ACLs to determine if the HTTP/HTTPS web UI is exposed to untrusted networks.
    Affected if The web UI is accessible from untrusted networks (unauthenticated attacker needs network access to the web UI)

A user is affected if they are running Cisco IOS XE version earlier than 16.3.6 with the web UI (HTTP/HTTPS) enabled and accessible.

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
Upgrade available Upgrade to 16.3.6 or later
Fixed in 16.3.6
Interim mitigation

Upgrade to a patched version of Cisco IOS XE Software that addresses these vulnerabilities, or disable the web UI if not required, or implement web application firewall/input validation controls as an interim measure.

Fix this in Ios Xe Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
14.0 hours of engineering $2,480
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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-2018-0186 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