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Ios XeOperating system · Cisco

CVE-2018-0472

HIGH · 8.6 CVSS v3.0 Published 2018-10-05
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
95/100
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 IPsec driver code of multiple Cisco IOS XE Software platforms and the Cisco ASA 5500-X Series Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to cause the device to reload. The vulnerability is due to improper processing of malformed IPsec Authentication Header (AH) or Encapsulating Security Payload (ESP) packets. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending malformed IPsec packets to be processed by an affected device. An exploit could allow the attacker to cause a reload of the 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 · high confidence

A vulnerability in the IPsec driver code of Cisco IOS XE Software and ASA 5500-X Series allows an unauthenticated remote attacker to cause device reload by sending malformed IPsec Authentication Header (AH) or Encapsulating Security Payload (ESP) packets. The improper processing of these malformed packets triggers the denial of service condition.

MitigationApply the relevant Cisco security updates for IOS XE and ASA platforms. Until patched, consider implementing IPsec traffic filtering or monitoring at network boundaries to block potentially malicious malformed packets.

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:= 15.5\(3\)s5.36= 16.8.1

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
Changed
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/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 device platform
    Run 'show version' or check device model to confirm the hardware is either Cisco IOS XE or ASA 5500-X series
    Affected if Device is neither Cisco IOS XE nor ASA 5500-X series - not affected
  2. Check IOS XE version
    On IOS XE devices, run 'show version' and locate the software version string (for example, 15.5(3)S5 or 16.8.1)
    Affected if Version matches 15.5(3)S5 or 16.8.1 exactly as listed in affected versions
  3. Check ASA version
    On ASA devices, run 'show version' and identify the software version
    Affected if ASA version matches the affected version range provided
  4. Verify IPsec AH or ESP is enabled
    Run 'show crypto ipsec sa' or 'show run | include crypto' to check for active IPsec security associations using Authentication Header (AH) or Encapsulating Security Payload (ESP)
    Affected if No IPsec AH or ESP tunnels are configured - vulnerability not exploitable in your environment
  5. Check for unexplained device reloads
    Review logs and run 'show reload' or 'show logging' to look for sudden device reloads that may indicate exploitation attempts
    Affected if Device has experienced unexpected reloads and meets version criteria

Your device is affected only if it is Cisco IOS XE version 15.5(3)S5 or 16.8.1, or an affected ASA 5500-X version, AND has IPsec AH or ESP tunnels actively configured.

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 updates for IOS XE and ASA platforms. Until patched, consider implementing IPsec traffic filtering or monitoring at network boundaries to block potentially malicious malformed packets.

Fix this in Ios Xe Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
15.0 hours of engineering $2,640
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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-2018-0472 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