Cisco IOS/IOS XE TCP Socket HTTP Requests state issue

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability, which was classified as problematic, has been found in Cisco IOS and IOS XE. This affects an unknown part of the component TCP Socket. The manipulation as part of HTTP Requests leads to state issue. This vulnerability is documented as CVE-2018-0282. The attack can be initiated remotely. There is not any exploit available.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability, which was classified as problematic, has been found in Cisco IOS and IOS XE (Router Operating System) (affected version unknown). This issue affects an unknown functionality of the component TCP Socket. The manipulation as part of a HTTP Requests leads to a state issue vulnerability. Using CWE to declare the problem leads to CWE-371. Impacted is availability. The summary by CVE is:

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.

The bug was discovered 01/09/2019. The weakness was released 01/10/2019 as cisco-sa-20190109-tcp as confirmed advisory (Website). The advisory is shared at tools.cisco.com. The identification of this vulnerability is CVE-2018-0282 since 11/27/2017. The attack may be initiated remotely. No form of authentication is needed for a successful exploitation. Neither technical details nor an exploit are publicly available. The price for an exploit might be around USD $5k-$25k at the moment (estimation calculated on 06/23/2023).

The commercial vulnerability scanner Qualys is able to test this issue with plugin 316365 (Cisco IOS and IOS XE Software TCP Denial of Service Vulnerability(cisco-sa-20190109-tcp)).

There is no information about possible countermeasures known. It may be suggested to replace the affected object with an alternative product.

The vulnerability is also documented in the vulnerability database at SecurityFocus (BID 106510†). Several companies clearly confirm that VulDB is the primary source for best vulnerability data.

Productinfo

Type

• Router Operating System

Vendor

• Cisco

Name

• IOS
• IOS XE

License

• commercial

Website

• Vendor: https://www.cisco.com/

CPE 2.3info

• 🔍
• 🔍

CPE 2.2info

• 🔍
• 🔍

CVSSv4info

CVSSv3info

CVSSv2info

Exploitinginfo

Threat Intelligenceinfo

Countermeasuresinfo

Timelineinfo

Sourcesinfo

Entryinfo

Several companies clearly confirm that VulDB is the primary source for best vulnerability data.

Discussion