CVE-2018-0171

highpriority · act · 90OT risk · criticalKEV · exploitedEPSS 0.995 · 100 %ileexploit · PoCDEEURUUS
grimoire priorityP0 · Act now
Exploitable?
Yes · in the wild
CISA KEV · 2 exploits · PoC
Likely / severe?
99.5% (100th) EPSS
CVSS 10 · high
Is it mine?
699 products
Check your exposure
Who says so?
6 sources
cnnvd · enisa_euvd · fstec_bdu · cert_bund

added 2021-11-03remediate by 2022-05-03

required action Apply updates per vendor instructions.

EPSS · scored 2026-10-27

Cisco IOS and IOS XE Software Smart Install Remote Code Execution Vulnerability

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.

01

remediations

Vendor fix, mitigation, or workaround guidance, as published by each source.

A vendor fix is available.

02

cvss

Technical severity, 0–10. One row per scoring source.

10.0
010

base score 0–10 · higher = more severe · hover a vector to decode⚠ sources disagree · high–critical · 7.5–10

v2.010highAV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:Cprimary · NVD / NIST USexploitability 10 · impact 10
v3.19.8criticalCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:Hprimary · NVD / NIST USexploitability 3.9 · impact 5.9
v2.010criticalAV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:Csecondary · FSTEC (BDU) RU
v3.09.8criticalCVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:Hsecondary · Cisco PSIRT US
v3.09.8criticalCVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:Hsecondary · CISA US
v3.17.5highCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:Hsecondaryexploitability 3.9 · impact 3.6
v3.19.8criticalCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:Hsecondary · CVSS-BT (t0sche)
v3.17.5highCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:Hsecondary · ENISA EU
03

ssvc

A stakeholder decision — act, attend, or track — from exploitation and impact.

Exploitation: active · Automatable: yes · Technical Impact: totalcoordinatorcisa_ssvcUS
04

weaknesses

The CWE weakness classes this flaw belongs to.

CWE-787USprimaryCWE-20USCWE-20USCWE-20US
05

exploits (2)

Public proof-of-concept and weaponised exploit code.

06

affected products (699)

Products and version ranges known to be affected.

showing 20 of 699
07

advisories (3)

Vendor and ecosystem advisories describing this.

  • WID-SEC-W-2025-1871Cisco IOS: Mehrere SchwachstellenDeutsch2018-03-28csaf · cert_bundDE

    Ein entfernter, anonymer oder authentisierter Angreifer kann mehrere Schwachstellen in Cisco IOS und Cisco IOS XE ausnutzen, um Daten zu manipulieren, vertrauliche Daten einzusehen, einen Denial of Service Angriff durchzuführen, seine Privilegien zu erweitern, Cross-Site Scripting Angriffe durchzuführen, Sicherheitsmechanismen zu umgehen oder beliebigen Code mit administrativen Privilegien zur Ausführung zu bringen.

  • cisco-sa-20180328-smi2Cisco IOS and IOS XE Software Smart Install Remote Code Execution Vulnerability2018-03-28csaf · cisco_csafUS

    Update August 20, 2025: Cisco is aware of continued exploitation activity of the vulnerability that is described in this advisory and strongly recommends that customers assess their systems and upgrade to a fixed software release as soon as possible. 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 has released software updates that address this vulnerability. There are no workarounds that address this vulnerability. Smart Install client functionality is enabled by default on switches that are running Cisco IOS Software releases that have not been updated to address Cisco bug ID CSCvd36820 ["https://bst.cloudapps.cisco.com/bugsearch/bug/CSCvd36820"]. This advisory is part of the March 28, 2018, release of the Cisco IOS and IOS XE Software Security Advisory Bundled Publication, which includes 20 Cisco Security Advisories that describe 22 vulnerabilities. For a complete list of the advisories and links to them, see Cisco Event Response: March 2018 Semiannual Cisco IOS and IOS XE Software Security Advisory Bundled Publication ["https://sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/viewErp.x?alertId=ERP-66682"].

  • ICSA-18-107-04Rockwell Automation Stratix and ArmorStratix Switches2018-04-17icsa · cisa_csaf_otUS

    Successful exploitation of these vulnerabilities could result in loss of availability, confidentiality, and/or integrity caused by memory exhaustion, module restart, information corruption, and/or information exposure.

08

also known as (4)

Other names and identifiers for this entity.

09

sources

Which sources assert this record, and when.

cnnvdenisa_euvdfstec_bducert_bundcisa_csaf_otcisco_csafNVDCVE.orgMITRE
published 2018-03-28modified 2026-06-17
11

references (19)

External citations — patches, advisories, analysis.

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