iOSOperating system · Cisco

CVE-2018-0282

MEDIUM · 6.8 CVSS v3.1 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 →
77/100
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
A vulnerability in the TCP socket code of Cisco IOS and IOS XE Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to cause an affected device to reload. The vulnerability is due to a state condition between the socket state and the transmission control block (TCB) state. While this vulnerability potentially affects all TCP applications, the only affected application observed so far is the HTTP server. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending specific HTTP requests at a sustained rate to a reachable IP address of the affected software. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause the affected device to reload, resulting in a denial of service (DoS) condition on an affected device.

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

CVE-2018-0282 is a vulnerability in the TCP socket code of Cisco IOS and IOS XE Software caused by a state condition mismatch between socket state and the Transmission Control Block (TCB). While potentially affecting all TCP applications, the HTTP server is the only observed affected application. An unauthenticated remote attacker can exploit this by sending specific HTTP requests at a sustained rate to a reachable IP address, causing the affected device to reload and resulting in denial of service.

MitigationApply the relevant Cisco IOS/IOS XE software updates when available; in the interim, consider implementing rate limiting or access controls on the HTTP server to limit sustained request attacks.

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:= 15.2\(2\)e4
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
Network
Complexity
High
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/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 the Cisco IOS or IOS XE version
    Execute 'show version' on the device CLI and locate the software version string in the output (e.g., 'Version 15.2(2)E4' or IOS XE version number)
    Affected if The version matches 15.2(2)e4 for Cisco iOS, or any version for Cisco IOS XE (all versions affected)
  2. Confirm HTTP server is enabled
    Execute 'show ip http server status' or 'show running-config | include ip http server' to check if the HTTP server feature is active
    Affected if HTTP server is enabled (the vulnerability only manifests through the HTTP server)
  3. Verify HTTP server is network reachable
    From an external host, attempt to reach the device HTTP port (TCP 80) or verify ACLs and interface configurations allow HTTP access
    Affected if The HTTP server is reachable from untrusted networks - an attacker must be able to send sustained HTTP requests to the device

You are affected if your device runs Cisco iOS version 15.2(2)e4 or any Cisco IOS XE version, has the HTTP server enabled, and the HTTP service is network-accessible to an attacker.

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 IOS/IOS XE software updates when available; in the interim, consider implementing rate limiting or access controls on the HTTP server to limit sustained request attacks.

Fix this in iOS Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation6.0 h
  • Implementation12.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
27.0 hours of engineering $4,800
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Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-0282 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

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-2018-0282 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