dbcve.org
Nexus 3016 FirmwareOperating system · Cisco

CVE-2022-20823

HIGH · 8.6 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-08-25
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 OSPF version 3 (OSPFv3) feature of Cisco NX-OS Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to cause a denial of service (DoS) condition on an affected device. This vulnerability is due to incomplete input validation of specific OSPFv3 packets. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a malicious OSPFv3 link-state advertisement (LSA) to an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause the OSPFv3 process to crash and restart multiple times, causing the affected device to reload and resulting in a DoS condition. Note: The OSPFv3 feature is disabled by default. To exploit this vulnerability, an attacker must be able to establish a full OSPFv3 neighbor state with an affected device. For more information about exploitation conditions, see the Details section of this advisory.

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 Cisco NX-OS OSPFv3 feature stems from incomplete input validation of OSPFv3 link-state advertisements (LSAs). An unauthenticated remote attacker who can establish full OSPFv3 neighbor adjacency can send malicious LSAs causing the OSPFv3 process to crash and restart repeatedly, forcing the device to reload and resulting in DoS.

MitigationDisable OSPFv3 if not required (disabled by default). If OSPFv3 is needed, apply Cisco's vendor patch and monitor for unauthorized OSPFv3 neighbor establishment attempts.

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
Nexus 3016 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Nexus 3016q FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Nexus 3048 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Nexus 3064 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Nexus 3064 32t FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Nexus 3064 T FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Nexus 3064 X FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Nexus 3064t FirmwareOperating 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
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/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 Nexus switch model
    Run 'show version' or 'show inventory' to confirm the device model is one of: Nexus 3016, 3016q, 3048, 3064, 3064 32t, 3064 T, 3064 X, or 3064t
    Affected if The device model matches one of the listed affected Nexus switches
  2. Verify OSPFv3 is enabled
    Run 'show running-config | include ospfv3' or 'show feature | include ospfv3' to check if OSPFv3 feature is configured on the device
    Affected if OSPFv3 feature appears in the configuration or shows as enabled in the feature list
  3. Confirm OSPFv3 is actively running
    Run 'show ospfv3 vrf all' or 'show ospfv3 interface' to check if OSPFv3 process is active and has interfaces configured
    Affected if OSPFv3 process shows as active with interfaces assigned (indicates OSPFv3 is not just enabled but actually running)
  4. Check for OSPFv3 neighbor adjacencies
    Run 'show ospfv3 neighbor' or 'show ospfv3 vrf all neighbor' to list established OSPFv3 neighbors
    Affected if Any OSPFv3 neighbors are listed as 'FULL' or 'EXSTART' state, indicating active neighbor relationships exist on the network

A device is affected if it is a vulnerable Nexus model listed in the CVE AND has OSPFv3 enabled and actively running with neighbor adjacencies established, as the attacker needs full OSPFv3 neighbor adjacency to send malicious LSAs.

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

Disable OSPFv3 if not required (disabled by default). If OSPFv3 is needed, apply Cisco's vendor patch and monitor for unauthorized OSPFv3 neighbor establishment attempts.

Fix this in Nexus 3016 Firmware Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
20.0 hours of engineering $3,500
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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-2022-20823 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