Security 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
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

CVSS and EPSS are reproduced from their sources (NVD, FIRST EPSS). Risk Priority is our own derived reading, not an NVD score.

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, 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)
KEV Date Added
03 March 2022

Related Threats

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2018-0175Same product: Cisco Iosboth on KEV
CVE-2018-0172Same product: Cisco Iosboth on KEV
CVE-2018-0174Same product: Cisco Iosboth on KEV
CVE-2018-0173Same product: Cisco Iosboth on KEV
CVE-2017-6738Same product: Cisco Iosboth on KEV
CVE-2017-6743Same product: Cisco Iosboth on KEV
CVE-2017-6737Same product: Cisco Iosboth on KEV
CVE-2017-6742Same product: Cisco Iosboth on KEV
CVE-2017-6736Same product: Cisco Iosboth on KEV
CVE-2017-6739Same product: Cisco Iosboth 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

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.

addresses: CWE-119

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

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.

addresses: CWE-119

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

addresses: CWE-119

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

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.

blocks

A.8.25 mandates secure SDLC practices (secure coding guidelines, security requirements, testing including code scans and penetration tests, developer training) that reach buffer management and can stop many buffer overruns from reaching production, but leaves a bounded remainder (e.g. flaws in non-software components, incomplete enforcement of guidelines, or post-deployment changes)

blocks

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

blocks

A.8.27 mandates security-by-design principles (e.g. least privilege, fail securely, distrust external input, hardening) plus design reviews that can catch and stop buffer-boundary errors before they reach code, but this is only one minority slice of CWE-119's broad surface (language-specific flaws, unsafe library use, compiler/runtime mitigations, and post-deployment instances remain outside its direct scope).

prevents

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

finds

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

Hardening callouts derived

DISA STIG baselines are authored against specific weaknesses. Where this CVE cites a broad weakness class, the mapping is not asserted at that abstraction (owner ruling, 2026-09-25: grade only at Base and below), so no rule is shown here rather than a rule shown against the wrong grain.

  • No fine-grained STIG row for CWE-119, a class-level weakness. Rules are authored against its narrower children: CWE-823.

References