Security Resilience

CVE-2018-0175

Memory Safety in Cisco Ios ≤ 15.2\(4a\)ea5

CISA KEVActive ExploitationEUVD ExploitedMemory Safety
Published
28 March 2018
Modified
14 January 2026
KEV Added
03 March 2022
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 8.0
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.035 89th percentile
Risk Priority 85 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-2018-0175 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 8.0 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique LSASS Memory (T1003.001); ranked in the top 11% 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.

A format string vulnerability exists 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 ID CSCvd73664. The flaw is identified by CWE-119 and CWE-134 and carries a CVSS 3.1 base score of 8.0.

An unauthenticated adjacent attacker can exploit the issue to trigger a denial-of-service condition or to execute arbitrary code with elevated privileges on an affected device. The attack vector requires adjacency on the local link and does not need prior authentication or user interaction beyond sending crafted LLDP packets.

Public references include ICS-CERT advisories ICSA-18-107-03, ICSA-18-107-04, and ICSA-18-107-05 along with SecurityFocus and SecurityTracker entries that direct administrators to vendor updates and configuration guidance for the affected Cisco operating systems. No information on observed in-the-wild exploitation is supplied in the available references.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

Format String vulnerability 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 execute…

more

arbitrary code with elevated privileges on an affected device. Cisco Bug IDs: CSCvd73664.

CWE(s)
KEV Date Added
03 March 2022

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1003.001 LSASS Memory Credential Access
Adversaries may attempt to access credential material stored in the process memory of the Local Security Authority Subsystem Service (LSASS).
T1003.002 Security Account Manager Credential Access
Adversaries may attempt to extract credential material from the Security Account Manager (SAM) database either through in-memory techniques or through the Windows Registry where the SAM database is stored.
T1003.004 LSA Secrets Credential Access
Adversaries with SYSTEM access to a host may attempt to access Local Security Authority (LSA) secrets, which can contain a variety of different credential materials, such as credentials for service accounts.
T1003.007 Proc Filesystem Credential Access
Adversaries may gather credentials from the proc filesystem or `/proc`.
T1005 Data from Local System Collection
Adversaries may search local system sources, such as file systems, configuration files, local databases, virtual machine files, or process memory, to find files of interest and sensitive data prior to Exfiltration.
T1016 System Network Configuration Discovery Discovery
Adversaries may look for details about the network configuration and settings, such as IP and/or MAC addresses, of systems they access or through information discovery of remote systems.
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2018-0172Same product: Cisco Iosboth on KEV
CVE-2018-0167Same product: Cisco Iosboth on KEV
CVE-2018-0174Same product: Cisco Iosboth on KEV
CVE-2018-0173Same product: Cisco Iosboth on KEV
CVE-2018-0155Same product: Cisco Iosboth on KEV
CVE-2023-20109Same product: Cisco Iosboth on KEV
CVE-2025-20352Same product: Cisco Iosboth on KEV
CVE-2018-0158Same product: Cisco Iosboth on KEV
CVE-2020-3118Same product: Cisco Ios Xrboth on KEV
CVE-2017-6738Same product: Cisco Iosboth on KEV

Affected Assets

cisco
ios
15.4\(3\)m4.1 · ≤ 15.2\(4a\)ea5 · ≤ 15.2\(6\)e0a · ≤ 15.6.3m1
cisco
ios xe
15.4\(3\)m4.1 · ≤ 15.2\(4a\)ea5 · ≤ 15.2\(6\)e0a · ≤ 15.6.3m1
cisco
ios xr
15.4\(3\)m4.1

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 (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.

ID.RA-01 partial match
blocks

Vulnerability identification can discover existing format-string flaws but does not prevent their introduction.

PR.PS-06 partial match
blocks

Secure SDLC practices directly prevent external format strings via code review, static analysis, and safe APIs.

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.

removes
removes
removes
removes
removes

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