Cyber Resilience

CVE-2018-0167

Memory Safety in Cisco Ios ≤ 15.6.3m1

CISA KEVActive ExploitationEUVD ExploitedMemory Safety
Published
28 March 2018
Modified
14 January 2026
KEV Added
03 March 2022
Patch / advisory
View advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 8.8
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.034 88th percentile
Risk Priority 90 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2018-0167 is a high-severity Improper Restriction of Operations within the Bounds of a Memory Buffer (CWE-119) vulnerability in Cisco Ios. Its CVSS base score is 8.8 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Process Injection (T1055); ranked in the top 12% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; CISA has added it to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog.

Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary

Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.

Multiple buffer overflow vulnerabilities exist in the Link Layer Discovery Protocol (LLDP) subsystem of Cisco IOS Software, Cisco IOS XE Software, and Cisco IOS XR Software, tracked under Cisco Bug IDs CSCuo17183 and CSCvd73487 and assigned CWE-119. These flaws affect devices running the specified Cisco operating systems and carry a CVSS 3.1 base score of 8.8.

An unauthenticated adjacent attacker can exploit the issues over the local network without credentials or user interaction to trigger a denial-of-service condition or to execute arbitrary code with elevated privileges on the affected device.

ICS-CERT has published multiple advisories (ICSA-18-107-03, ICSA-18-107-04, and ICSA-18-107-05) along with related notices on SecurityFocus and SecurityTracker that address the vulnerabilities.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

Multiple Buffer Overflow vulnerabilities in the Link Layer Discovery Protocol (LLDP) subsystem of Cisco IOS Software, Cisco IOS XE Software, and Cisco IOS XR Software could allow an unauthenticated, adjacent attacker to cause a denial of service (DoS) condition or…

more

execute arbitrary code with elevated privileges on an affected device. Cisco Bug IDs: CSCuo17183, CSCvd73487.

CWE(s)
CWE-119
KEV Date Added
03 March 2022

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1055 Process Injection Stealth
Adversaries may inject code into processes in order to evade process-based defenses as well as possibly elevate privileges.
attack.mitre.org →
T1068 Exploitation for Privilege Escalation Privilege Escalation
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to elevate privileges.
attack.mitre.org →
T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Access
Adversaries may attempt to exploit a weakness in an Internet-facing host or system to initially access a network.
attack.mitre.org →
T1203 Exploitation for Client Execution Execution
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in client applications to execute code.
attack.mitre.org →
T1210 Exploitation of Remote Services Lateral Movement
Adversaries may exploit remote services to gain unauthorized access to internal systems once inside of a network.
attack.mitre.org →
T1212 Exploitation for Credential Access Credential Access
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to collect credentials.
attack.mitre.org →
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2018-0175Same product: Cisco Iosboth on KEV
CVE-2017-6743Same product: Cisco Iosboth on KEV
CVE-2017-6736Same product: Cisco Iosboth on KEV
CVE-2017-6738Same product: Cisco Iosboth on KEV
CVE-2017-6739Same product: Cisco Iosboth on KEV
CVE-2017-6740Same product: Cisco Iosboth on KEV
CVE-2017-6742Same product: Cisco Iosboth on KEV
CVE-2017-6737Same product: Cisco Iosboth on KEV
CVE-2018-0172Same product: Cisco Iosboth on KEV
CVE-2018-0151Same product: Cisco Ios Xeboth on KEV

Affected Assets

cisco
ios
5.2.0.base · ≤ 15.6.3m1 · ≤ 15.2\(6\)e0a · ≤ 15.2\(4a\)ea5
cisco
ios xe
5.2.0.base · ≤ 15.6.3m1 · ≤ 15.2\(6\)e0a · ≤ 15.2\(4a\)ea5
cisco
ios xr
4.1 — 5.1.3

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

—

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

—

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)

—

Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V17.3.2

Likely Mitigating Controls AI

Per-CVE control mapping for this CVE has not run yet; the list below is derived from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry.

SA-11 Developer Testing and Evaluation
addresses: CWE-119

Ongoing control assessments and code testing (static/dynamic analysis, fuzzing) surface memory buffer restriction failures, which are then remediated before release.

SC-27 Platform-independent Applications
addresses: CWE-119

Managed runtimes used by platform-independent applications (e.g., JVM, CLR) enforce memory safety, preventing most buffer overflows that require direct memory manipulation.

SI-16 Memory Protection
addresses: CWE-119

Memory protections (e.g., W^X, ASLR) make exploitation of buffer-boundary violations far harder to turn into code execution.

SI-4 System Monitoring
addresses: CWE-119

Detects exploitation attempts that produce memory corruption, crashes, or anomalous behavior.

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.PS-06 mostly match
prevents

Secure SDLC practices (bounds checking, safe APIs, reviews) directly prevent this class of flaw.

ID.RA-01 partial match
prevents

Vulnerability scanning and code analysis directly surface buffer-boundary flaws.

ID.RA-08 partial match
prevents

Receiving and triaging vulnerability disclosures commonly includes buffer-related reports.

PR.AT-02 partial match
prevents

Developer training on secure coding reduces introduction of memory-buffer errors.

PR.PS-02 partial match
prevents

Patching replaces vulnerable code containing buffer-boundary defects.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

A.8.29 Security testing in development and acceptance mostly match
finds

Security testing in development catches out-of-bounds accesses before release, covering most instances of the weakness.

A.8.25 Secure development life cycle partial match
prevents

Secure development lifecycle mandates memory-safety practices that directly prevent buffer-boundary violations.

A.8.26 Application security requirements partial match
prevents

Application security requirements can specify memory-safety rules, but do not prescribe implementation details.

A.8.27 Secure system architecture and engineering principles partial match
prevents

Secure architecture and engineering principles include memory-safe design patterns that mitigate buffer overflows.

A.8.28 Secure coding partial match
prevents

Secure coding standards explicitly forbid unsafe buffer operations, directly eliminating CWE-119.

References