Cisco Catalyst 6800 Series Switches VPLS Denial-of-Service Vulnerability

Exploited · KEV 2022-03-03CVE-2017-12238CWE-399

Exploited since 2022-03-03. No WAF vendor names it yet.

Edge rules

0/8

Our test

No exploit yet

CVSS

6.5

EPSS

2.0% Top 19%

Posts, 14d

Published

2017-09-28

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.

Edge coverage

Claimed by vendors

CloudflareBefore feed historyOlder than its feed AWSBefore feed historyOlder than its feed Microsoft AzureNo public claimNot named Google CloudBefore feed historyOlder than its feed FastlyBefore feed historyOlder than its feed F5Before feed historyOlder than its feed AkamaiNo public sourceNo public changelog OWASP CRSBefore feed historyOlder than its feed

Ask Vigil

AI · answers from this page

Ask about CVE-2017-12238: who's covered, what to patch first, how vendors compare. I cite sources and won't help with attacks.

Workers AI (Llama 3.3). Can be wrong: check the cited source.

Severity, decoded

CVSS 3.1

6.5Medium

Medium · 6.5 / 10

Exploitable from an adjacent network, with no privileges and no user interaction, leading to full loss of availability.

Same network onlyNo login neededNo user actionWorks reliablySerious impact

How the score is built8 metrics

Attack vectorAn attacker must be on the same local network, Wi-Fi or VPN segment.
Adjacent network
Attack complexityNo special conditions are needed; the attack works reliably.
Low
Privileges requiredNo account or login is needed.
None
User interactionNo one has to click or open anything; the attack works on its own.
None
ScopeThe damage stays within the vulnerable component.
Unchanged
Confidentiality impactNo data is exposed.
None
Integrity impactData cannot be changed by the attacker.
None
Availability impactAn attacker can take the component down completely or keep it from serving anyone.
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

CISA's assessmentSSVC, from the CVE record

ExploitationActive

Attackers are exploiting this in the wild.

AutomatableNo

At least one step needs hands-on work, which slows mass attacks.

Technical impactPartial

A successful attack gives limited control over the affected software or limited access to its data.

Public exploits

None found

0 Metasploit0 Exploit-DB0 Scanner template0 GitHub PoCs

No exploit in Exploit-DB or Metasploit, and no scanner template. That lowers, but doesn't remove, the chance of mass exploitation.

Timeline

2017-09-28
CVE published
CVE List
2022-03-03
Added to CISA KEV
Confirmed exploitation in the wild