CVE Tools

CVE-2021-1368

Cisco FXOS and NX-OS Software Unidirectional Link Detection Denial of Service and Arbitrary Code Execution Vulnerability

Public exploit available. Not confirmed exploited in the wild yet. A vendor fix is available.

Published Updated Sources: CVE.org, NVD, BDU

What to do

The vendor has published a fix. Version details are below where the sources state them.

What it is

From the CVE record

A vulnerability in the Unidirectional Link Detection (UDLD) feature of Cisco FXOS Software and Cisco NX-OS Software could allow an unauthenticated, adjacent attacker to execute arbitrary code with administrative privileges or cause a denial of service (DoS) condition on an affected device. This vulnerability is due to insufficient input validation. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending crafted Cisco UDLD protocol packets to a directly connected, affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary code with administrative privileges or cause the Cisco UDLD process to crash and restart multiple times, causing the affected device to reload and resulting in a DoS condition. Note: The UDLD feature is disabled by default, and the conditions to exploit this vulnerability are strict. The attacker needs full control of a directly connected device. That device must be connected over a port channel that has UDLD enabled. To trigger arbitrary code execution, both the UDLD-enabled port channel and specific system conditions must exist. In the absence of either the UDLD-enabled port channel or the system conditions, attempts to exploit this vulnerability will result in a DoS condition. It is possible, but highly unlikely, that an attacker could control the necessary conditions for exploitation. The CVSS score reflects this possibility. However, given the complexity of exploitation, Cisco has assigned a Medium Security Impact Rating (SIR) to this vulnerability.

In plain language

No plain-language summary for this CVE yet.

Exploitation

Where each signal puts this CVE on the scale from published to confirmed exploited.

EPSS37th
Public exploit
CISA KEV

Not in the catalog. CISA has not confirmed exploitation.

Public exploits

0 sources with a proof of concept or module.

Exploit links, PoCs and Metasploit modules after sign-in
EPSS

0.5% chance of exploitation activity in the next 30 days, which ranks it in the 37th percentile of scored CVEs.

Exploit Prediction Scoring System, FIRST.org. A probability, not a confirmation.

Lifecycle

6 events over 1947 days, from the signal feeds we watch.

  1. OpenVAS check added
  2. Patch availablerecord updated
  3. Publishedweakness classified, att&ck mapped

Affected products

Technical detail

CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Scored 8.8 by NVD.

How it is reached

  • Attack Vector AdjacentRequires access to the local network (e.g. same Wi-Fi, Bluetooth)
  • Attack Complexity LowNo special conditions — the attack can be reliably reproduced
  • Privileges Required NoneNo authentication required — anyone can exploit this
  • User Interaction NoneNo user interaction needed — fully automated exploitation

Scope

  • Scope UnchangedImpact is limited to the vulnerable component itself

Impact if exploited

  • Confidentiality HighTotal information disclosure — all data in the component is compromised
  • Integrity HighTotal loss of integrity — attacker can modify any data in the component
  • Availability HighTotal denial of service — the component is completely unavailable

Weaknesses

ATT&CK techniques

Mapped from the weaknesses above (CWE to ATT&CK), not observed in attacks.

Sources

Watch the software you run.

My Stack ranks new CVEs for your products by real-world exploitation, so the next serious one reaches you without reading every advisory.

We'll flag the next CVE, public exploit or patch for NX-OS, not every advisory. This one: public exploit.

We use analytics cookies to see which pages and articles actually help people. Decline and none of them run — the site works the same. What we store