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CVE-2018-0158Cisco IOS and XE Software Internet Key Exchange Memory Leak Vulnerability

Patch nowHigh8.6Exploited, CISA due date 2022-03-17EPSS 7.2%, higher than 94% of scored CVEs

CVE-2018-0158 is a memory leak in Cisco IOS Software and Cisco IOS XE Software, rated high (8.6 on CVSS 3.1).

Why this priority: Exploited in the wild: listed in CISA's KEV catalog.

Published · Updated · NVD status: Analyzed

What it is

Memory is never released, so repeated requests exhaust it. The software trusts input it should check, so crafted values reach code that assumes they are well formed.

How it is reached

An attacker can exploit it over the network, without an account, and nobody has to click anything.

What an attacker gains

A successful attack can take it offline. In practice, this kind of flaw lets an attacker exhaust CPU, memory or connections until the service stops answering. The damage can spread past the vulnerable component into others.

Is it being exploited?

CISA added it to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on 2022-03-03: it is being exploited in the wild. It can be exploited automatically, at scale. EPSS estimates a 7.2% chance of exploitation activity in the next 30 days, higher than 94% of scored CVEs.

What to do

  1. Treat it as urgent: it is on CISA's KEV list. CISA's deadline for US federal agencies: 2022-03-17.
  2. No fixed version is listed yet. Find every place Cisco IOS Software and Cisco IOS XE Software runs, watch the references for a fix, and plan a replacement if it is no longer supported.
  3. While there is no fix, keep it off the internet or behind a VPN, allowlist or authenticating proxy.
  4. Check exposed instances for signs of compromise, not only for the version.

Description from NVD

A vulnerability in the Internet Key Exchange Version 2 (IKEv2) module of Cisco IOS Software and Cisco IOS XE Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to cause a memory leak or a reload of an affected device that leads to a denial of service (DoS) condition. The vulnerability is due to incorrect processing of certain IKEv2 packets. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending crafted IKEv2 packets to an affected device to be processed. A successful exploit could cause an affected device to continuously consume memory and eventually reload, resulting in a DoS condition. Cisco Bug IDs: CSCvf22394.

What this means for your architecture.

A CVE names a product. Whether it matters depends on where that product sits in your systems: what reaches it, which trust boundary it guards and what it can reach once compromised. Veriom maps your components, their relationships and your trust boundaries from your code, cloud and delivery evidence, so you can see where a component like this sits. The radar itself does not look at your systems.

Components it touches

  • Network edge devices: VPNs, firewalls, routers and gateways. They sit between the internet and internal networks, so a flaw in one is often the first step into everything behind it.
  • Operating systems on servers, workstations or devices. Everything on the host inherits the flaw.
  • Public entry points and shared services that must stay up. The flaw sits between untrusted traffic and shared capacity.
  • Interfaces that accept external input. The flaw sits at the input boundary of the affected component.

Trust boundaries in play

  • Internet-facing entry points. No account is needed. Any instance reachable from outside your perimeter, through a load balancer, gateway, VPN or exposed admin port, is in scope.
  • Isolation between components. The impact crosses out of the vulnerable component into others it should be isolated from.
  • Between untrusted traffic and shared capacity. An attacker who crosses it can exhaust CPU, memory or connections until the service stops answering.
  • At the input boundary of the affected component. An attacker who crosses it can drive the component into behaviour its authors did not intend.

Questions to answer about your own systems

  • Where does Cisco IOS Software and Cisco IOS XE Software run in your systems, and at which version?
  • Which of those instances can be reached from the internet or partner networks?
  • What can it reach once compromised: which data stores, secrets and services?
See how Veriom maps an architectureTake the interactive tour

Read more

Sources

  • CVE records and CVSS scores from the NVD CVE API. This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD.
  • Exploitation status from CISA’s Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog.
  • Exploit likelihood from FIRST’s Exploit Prediction Scoring System (EPSS), refreshed daily.
  • Explanations are written by Veriom from fixed templates over each record’s data, not by a person reviewing each CVE. Descriptions are quoted from the records as published.