Secuno
ENNL
Book demo

CVE-2017-12238

Cisco Catalyst 6800 Series Switches VPLS Denial-of-Service

6.5 MEDIUMActively exploited (CISA KEV)EPSS 2.02%
  1. Published28 Sept 2017
  2. Added to CISA KEV3 Mar 2022
  3. Remediation due24 Mar 2022
Actively exploited (CISA KEV)

A vulnerability in the Virtual Private LAN Service (VPLS) code of Cisco IOS for Cisco Catalyst 6800 Series Switches could allow an unauthenticated, adjacent attacker to cause a denial of service.

Added to KEV: 3 Mar 2022Federal remediation due: 24 Mar 2022

Description

A vulnerability in the Virtual Private LAN Service (VPLS) code of Cisco IOS 15.0 through 15.4 for Cisco Catalyst 6800 Series Switches could allow an unauthenticated, adjacent attacker to cause a C6800-16P10G or C6800-16P10G-XL type line card to crash, resulting in a denial of service (DoS) condition. The vulnerability is due to a memory management issue in the affected software. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by creating a large number of VPLS-generated MAC entries in the MAC address table of an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause a C6800-16P10G or C6800-16P10G-XL type line card to crash, resulting in a DoS condition. This vulnerability affects Cisco Catalyst 6800 Series Switches that are running a vulnerable release of Cisco IOS Software and have a Cisco C6800-16P10G or C6800-16P10G-XL line card in use with Supervisor Engine 6T. To be vulnerable, the device must also be configured with VPLS and the C6800-16P10G or C6800-16P10G-XL line card needs to be the core-facing MPLS interfaces. Cisco Bug IDs: CSCva61927.

CVSS 3.1 breakdown

Attack vectorAdjacent
Attack complexityLow
Privileges requiredNone
User interactionNone
ScopeUnchanged
ConfidentialityNone
IntegrityNone
AvailabilityHigh
CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Affected products

Cisco iOS≥ 15.0 ≤ 15.4

Remediation

No fixed version is recorded in the NVD data. Check the vendor advisory for the latest guidance.

References

Related CVEs

Recent high-severity vulnerabilities sharing a weakness type.

CVE-2022-207678.6
A vulnerability in the Snort rule evaluation function of Cisco Firepower Threat Defense…
CVE-2022-207158.6
A vulnerability in the remote access SSL VPN features of Cisco Adaptive Security…
CVE-2019-152568.6
A vulnerability in the Internet Key Exchange version 1 (IKEv1) feature of Cisco…
CVE-2018-02408.6
Multiple vulnerabilities in the Application Layer Protocol Inspection feature of Cisco…
CVE-2017-38648.6
A vulnerability in the DHCP client implementation of Cisco IOS (12.2, 12.4, and 15.0…
CVE-2016-13639.8
Buffer overflow in the redirection functionality in Cisco Wireless LAN Controller (WLC)…

Frequently asked

Is CVE-2017-12238 being actively exploited?

Yes. CVE-2017-12238 is listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog, added 3 Mar 2022.

How severe is CVE-2017-12238?

CVE-2017-12238 has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 6.5, rated medium. EPSS estimates a 2.02% probability of exploitation.

Which products are affected by CVE-2017-12238?

Affected products include Cisco iOS.

How do I fix CVE-2017-12238?

Apply the vendor's patch or advisory guidance, then verify no affected versions remain across your devices.

How Secuno handles this

Secuno correlates vulnerabilities like CVE-2017-12238 against the real software inventory on every managed device, every day. Rather than a static severity, each match is scored in context: exploit availability, EPSS, the asset's exposure, and business criticality decide where it lands in the queue. Because it is on the CISA KEV list, Secuno flags any affected asset as top-priority automatically. If an affected version is present anywhere across your portfolio, it surfaces automatically with a prioritised remediation path.

See how prioritisation worksBook a demo

Get Patch this first every Monday

Five vulnerabilities that matter this week, ranked on real exploitation. Plain language, one email, no spam.

You can unsubscribe with one click from every issue. We handle your details as described in our privacy policy.

Data from the NVD, CISA KEV catalog and FIRST EPSS. CVSS 3.1 base score shown where available.