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CVE-2018-0171

CRITICAL severity · CVSS 9.8 · Improper input validation · actively exploited (CISA KEV)
9.8CVSS CRITICAL ● exploited
🔴 Actively exploited in the wild (CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities). Added to KEV 2021-11-03. US federal agencies must patch by 2022-05-03.

Summary

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.

Impact & exploitability

Attack vectorNetwork
Attack complexityLow
Privileges requiredNone
User interactionNone
Confidentiality impactHigh
Integrity impactHigh
Availability impactHigh
Exploit probability (EPSS)93%

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

Affected products we track (1)

Recommendation

This vulnerability is being actively exploited in the wild — patch affected products urgently. Open any affected product above for its exact safe version.

Last checked: Wed, 10 Jun 2026 22:18:30 UTC