What happened
A vulnerability in the TLS library of Cisco IOS XE Software could allow an unauthenticated, adjacent attacker to exhaust the available memory of an affected device. This vulnerability is due to improper management of memory resources during TLS connection setup. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by repeatedly triggering the conditions that cause the memory increase. This could be done in a variety of ways, such as by repeatedly attempting Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP) authentication when local EAP is enabled on an affected device or by using a machine-in-the-middle attack and resetting TLS connections between the affected device and other devices. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to exhaust the available memory on an affected device, resulting in an unexpected reload and a denial of service (DoS) condition.
Affected versions
Cisco IOS XE Software: 16.9.1; 16.9.2; 16.9.1a; 16.9.1b; 16.9.1s; 16.9.3; 16.9.4; 16.9.3a; 16.9.5; 16.9.5f; 16.9.6; 16.9.7; 16.9.8; 16.10.1; 16.10.1a; 16.10.1b; 16.10.1s; 16.10.1c; 16.10.1e; 16.10.1d; 16.10.2; 16.10.1f; 16.10.1g; 16.10.3; 16.11.1; 16.11.1a; 16.11.1b; 16.11.2; 16.11.1s; 16.12.1; 16.12.1s; 16.12.1a; 16.12.1c; 16.12.1w; 16.12.2; 16.12.1y; 16.12.2a; 16.12.3; 16.12.8; 16.12.2s; 16.12.1x; 16.12.1t; 16.12.4; 16.12.3s; 16.12.3a; 16.12.4a; 16.12.5; 16.12.6; 16.12.1z1; 16.12.5a; 16.12.5b; 16.12.1z2; 16.12.6a; 16.12.7; 16.12.9; 16.12.10; 16.12.10a; 16.12.11; 16.12.12; 16.12.13; 16.12.14; 16.12.15; 17.1.1; 17.1.1a; 17.1.1s; 17.1.1t; 17.1.3; 17.2.1; 17.2.1r; 17.2.1a; 17.2.1v; 17.2.2; 17.2.3; 17.3.1; 17.3.2; 17.3.3; 17.3.1a; 17.3.1w; 17.3.2a; 17.3.1x; 17.3.1z; 17.3.4; 17.3.5; 17.3.4a; 17.3.6; 17.3.4b; 17.3.4c; 17.3.5a; 17.3.5b; 17.3.7; 17.3.8; 17.3.8a; 17.4.1; 17.4.2; 17.4.1a; 17.4.1b; 17.4.2a; 17.5.1; 17.5.1a; 17.6.1; 17.6.2; 17.6.1w; 17.6.1a; 17.6.1x; 17.6.3; 17.6.1y; 17.6.1z; 17.6.3a; 17.6.4; 17.6.1z1; 17.6.5; 17.6.6; 17.6.6a; 17.6.5a; 17.6.7; 17.6.8; 17.6.8a; 17.7.1; 17.7.1a; 17.7.1b; 17.7.2; 17.10.1; 17.10.1a; 17.10.1b; 17.8.1; 17.8.1a; 17.9.1; 17.9.1w; 17.9.2; 17.9.1a; 17.9.1x; 17.9.1y; 17.9.3; 17.9.2a; 17.9.1x1; 17.9.3a; 17.9.4; 17.9.1y1; 17.9.5; 17.9.4a; 17.9.5a; 17.9.5b; 17.9.6; 17.9.6a; 17.9.5e; 17.9.5f; 17.11.1; 17.11.1a; 17.12.1; 17.12.1w; 17.12.1a; 17.12.1x; 17.12.2; 17.12.3; 17.12.2a; 17.12.1y; 17.12.1z; 17.12.4; 17.12.3a; 17.12.1z1; 17.12.1z2; 17.12.4a; 17.12.4b; 17.12.1z3; 17.12.1z4; 17.12.1z5; 17.12.1z6; 17.13.1; 17.13.1a; 17.14.1; 17.14.1a; 17.15.1; 17.15.1w; 17.15.1a; 17.15.1b; 17.15.1x; 17.15.1z; 17.15.1y; 17.16.1; 17.16.1a Fixed: See vendor advisory.
Why it matters
Review the vendor advisory and exposure of the affected product to determine operational impact.
Detection & mitigation
- Apply vendor-provided updates or mitigations.
- Review affected product exposure and access logs.
Public PoC references
No public PoC reference has passed the current publication threshold.