Vulnerability intelligence
CVEs

CVE-2018-0171

Critical · 9.8KEVCWE-20Source: NVD

A vulnerability in the Smart Install feature of Cisco IOS Software and Cisco IOS XE Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to trigger a reload of an affected device, resulting in a denial of service (DoS) condition, or to execute arbitrary code on an affected device. The vulnerability is due to improper validation of packet data. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a crafted Smart Install message to an affected device on TCP port 4786. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause a buffer overflow on the affected device, which could have the following impacts: Triggering a reload of the device, Allowing the attacker to execute arbitrary code on the device, Causing an indefinite loop on the affected device that triggers a watchdog crash. Cisco Bug IDs: CSCvg76186.

CVSS 3.1 9.8CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Published 3/28/2018

Threat actors

Salt Typhoon
Threat actor · China (state)
Curated

Living-off-the-land across telecom carriers; JumbledPath Go tool for packet capture and log erasure.

Static Tundra
Threat actor · Russia (state)
Curated

Smart Install exploitation of unpatched/EoL Cisco devices for intelligence collection (~250k exposed 4786).

Indicators of compromise

No indicators of compromise recorded. Run AI enrichment to research IOCs.
CISA KEV
Added 2021-11-03
Remediation due 2022-05-03
Ransomware use: Unknown
EPSS
100%

Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.

Affected products
Public exploits / PoCs

Public repos, unvetted — presence is not exploit quality.