⚠ Actively exploited
Added to CISA KEV on 2021-11-03. Federal agencies required to patch by 2022-05-03. Required action: Apply updates per vendor instructions..

CVE-2018-0171Improper Input Validation in Cisco IOS

Severity
9.8CRITICALNVD
EPSS
93.0%
top 0.21%
CISA KEV
KEV
Added 2021-11-03
Due 2022-05-03
Exploit
Exploited in wild
Active exploitation observed
Affected products
Timeline
PublishedMar 28
KEV addedNov 3
KEV dueMay 3
Latest updateAug 20
CISA Required Action: Apply updates per vendor instructions.

Description

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 c

CVSS vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:HExploitability: 3.9 | Impact: 5.9

Affected Packages1 packages

NVDcisco/ios15.2\(5\)e

🔴Vulnerability Details

3
GHSA
GHSA-4w6g-87mh-x63x: A vulnerability in the Smart Install feature of Cisco IOS Software and Cisco IOS XE Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to trigge2022-05-13
CVEList
CVE-2018-0171: A vulnerability in the Smart Install feature of Cisco IOS Software and Cisco IOS XE Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to trigge2018-03-28
VulnCheck
Cisco IOS and IOS XE Software Smart Install Remote Code Execution Vulnerability2018

💥Exploits & PoCs

2
Exploit-DB
Cisco Smart Install - Crash (PoC)2018-03-29
Nuclei
Cisco Smart Install - Configuration Download

🔍Detection Rules

1
Suricata
ET EXPLOIT Possible CVE-2018-0171 Exploit (PoC based)2018-04-06

📋Vendor Advisories

2
CISA
Cisco IOS and IOS XE Software Smart Install Remote Code Execution Vulnerability2021-11-03
Cisco
Cisco IOS and IOS XE Software Smart Install Remote Code Execution Vulnerability2018-03-28

🕵️Threat Intelligence

4
Talos
Russian state-sponsored espionage group Static Tundra compromises unpatched end-of-life network devices2025-08-20
Talos
Russian state-sponsored espionage group Static Tundra compromises unpatched end-of-life network devices2025-08-20
Tenable
Cisco Smart Install - How to Prevent Attacks on Switches2018-04-11
Tenable
Proof of Concept (and Patch) for Critical Cisco IOS Vulnerability: CVE-2018-01712018-04-03
CVE-2018-0171 — Improper Input Validation in Cisco IOS | cvebase