Cyber Resilience

CVE-2018-0159

HighCISA KEVActive ExploitationEUVD Exploited

Published: 28 March 2018

Published
28 March 2018
Modified
14 January 2026
KEV Added
03 March 2022
Patch
CVSS Score v3.1 7.5 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
EPSS Score 0.0697 91.6th percentile
Risk Priority 39 60% EPSS · 20% KEV · 20% CVSS

Summary

CVE-2018-0159 is a high-severity Improper Input Validation (CWE-20) vulnerability in Cisco Asr 901-12C-F-D. Its CVSS base score is 7.5 (High).

Operationally, ranked in the top 8.4% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; CISA has added it to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified are NIST 800-53 SC-5 (Denial-of-service Protection) and SI-10 (Information Input Validation).

Deeper analysis

A vulnerability in the implementation of Internet Key Exchange Version 1 (IKEv1) functionality in Cisco IOS Software and Cisco IOS XE Software stems from improper validation of specific IKEv1 packets, tracked under Cisco Bug ID CSCuj73916. The flaw is assigned CVE-2018-0159, carries a CVSS 3.1 base score of 7.5, and is associated with CWE-20.

An unauthenticated remote attacker can exploit the issue by sending crafted IKEv1 packets to an affected device during IKE negotiation. A successful attack causes the device to reload, producing a denial-of-service condition.

The referenced Cisco Security Advisory cisco-sa-20180328-ike-dos and associated vendor notices at securityfocus.com and securitytracker.com address mitigation steps for the affected software.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability details

A vulnerability in the implementation of Internet Key Exchange Version 1 (IKEv1) functionality in Cisco IOS Software and Cisco IOS XE Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to cause an affected device to reload, resulting in a denial of…

more

service (DoS) condition. The vulnerability is due to improper validation of specific IKEv1 packets. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending crafted IKEv1 packets to an affected device during an IKE negotiation. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause an affected device to reload, resulting in a DoS condition. Cisco Bug IDs: CSCuj73916.

CWE(s)
KEV Date Added
03 March 2022

Related Threats

No named actor attribution yet. ATT&CK technique mapping in progress for this CVE.

Affected Assets

cisco
ios
15.3\(3\)s
cisco
ios xe
15.3\(3\)s

Mitigating Controls

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

prevent

Directly counters the root cause of improper validation of crafted IKEv1 packets (CWE-20).

prevent

Explicitly requires mechanisms to protect against or limit the IKEv1-triggered DoS reload condition.

prevent

Boundary filtering or IKEv1 traffic controls can block unauthenticated remote exploitation attempts at the network edge.

References