Summary

• A vulnerability in the implementation of a protocol in Cisco Integrated Services Routers Generation 2 (ISR G2) Routers running Cisco IOS Software could allow an unauthenticated, adjacent attacker to cause an affected device to reload, resulting in a denial of service (DoS) condition.

  The vulnerability is due to a misclassification of Ethernet frames. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a crafted Ethernet frame to an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause the affected device to reload, resulting in a DoS condition.

  Cisco has released software updates that address this vulnerability. There are no workarounds that address this vulnerability.

  This advisory is available at the following link:
  https://sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-20170927-rbip-dos

  This advisory is part of the September 27, 2017, release of the Cisco IOS and IOS XE Software Security Advisory Bundled Publication, which includes 12 Cisco Security Advisories that describe 13 vulnerabilities. For a complete list of the advisories and links to them, see Cisco Event Response: September 2017 Semiannual Cisco IOS and IOS XE Software Security Advisory Bundled Publication.

Affected Products

• Vulnerable Products

  This vulnerability affects Cisco Integrated Services Routers Generation 2 (ISR G2) Routers that are running a vulnerable release of Cisco IOS Software.

  For information about which Cisco IOS Software releases are vulnerable, see the Fixed Software section of this advisory.

  Determining the Cisco IOS Software Release

  To determine which Cisco IOS Software release is running on a device, administrators can log in to the device, use the show version command in the CLI, and then refer to the system banner that appears. If the device is running Cisco IOS Software, the system banner displays text similar to Cisco Internetwork Operating System Software or Cisco IOS Software. The banner also displays the installed image name in parentheses, followed by the Cisco IOS Software release number and release name. Some Cisco devices do not support the show version command or may provide different output.

  The following example shows the output of the command for a device that is running Cisco IOS Software Release 15.5(2)T1 and has an installed image name of C2951-UNIVERSALK9-M:

  Router> show version
  
  Cisco IOS Software, C2951 Software (C2951-UNIVERSALK9-M), Version 15.5(2)T1, RELEASE SOFTWARE (fc1)
  Technical Support: http://www.cisco.com/techsupport
  Copyright (c) 1986-2015 by Cisco Systems, Inc.
  Compiled Mon 22-Jun-15 09:32 by prod_rel_team
  .
  .
  .

  For information about the naming and numbering conventions for Cisco IOS Software releases, see White Paper: Cisco IOS and NX-OS Software Reference Guide.

  Products Confirmed Not Vulnerable

  No other Cisco products are currently known to be affected by this vulnerability.

  Cisco has confirmed that this vulnerability does not affect Cisco IOS XE Software, Cisco IOS XR Software, or Cisco NX-OS Software.

Details

• Cisco IOS Software uses a custom protocol, designed for internal use only, in Cisco ISR G2 Routers to convey messages between a router and service blades, such as network modules. The protocol is built on top of Ethernet frames and it enables the router to handle and configure the service blades, internally to the router. The protocol is not expected to be used externally and frames from this protocol should not be seen on regular network segments.

  The vulnerability is due to the misclassification of Ethernet frames that would reach a router on one of its interfaces. Under specific conditions, these frames may be handled as if they were part of the protocol. If those frames are malformed with respect to the protocol, they may cause an affected router to reload.

Indicators of Compromise

• A successful exploit of this vulnerability will cause an affected device to reload and generate a crashinfo file, or cause spurious access error messages.

  A successful exploit of this vulnerability may be confirmed by decoding the stack trace for the device and determining whether the stack trace correlates with this issue.

  If the process crashed, device logs or the crashinfo file will contain an error message similar to the following example:

  Unexpected exception to CPU: vector 1400, PC = 0x43BB03C , LR = 0x43BB038

  Contact the Cisco Technical Assistance Center (TAC) to review the crashinfo file and determine whether the device has been compromised by exploitation of this vulnerability.

Workarounds

• There are no workarounds that address this vulnerability.

Fixed Software

• Cisco has released free software updates that address the vulnerability described in this advisory. Customers may only install and expect support for software versions and feature sets for which they have purchased a license. By installing, downloading, accessing, or otherwise using such software upgrades, customers agree to follow the terms of the Cisco software license:
  https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/end-user-license-agreement.html

  Additionally, customers may only download software for which they have a valid license, procured from Cisco directly, or through a Cisco authorized reseller or partner. In most cases this will be a maintenance upgrade to software that was previously purchased. Free security software updates do not entitle customers to a new software license, additional software feature sets, or major revision upgrades.

  When considering software upgrades, customers are advised to regularly consult the advisories for Cisco products, which are available from the Cisco Security Advisories and Alerts page, to determine exposure and a complete upgrade solution.

  In all cases, customers should ensure that the devices to be upgraded contain sufficient memory and confirm that current hardware and software configurations will continue to be supported properly by the new release. If the information is not clear, customers are advised to contact the Cisco Technical Assistance Center (TAC) or their contracted maintenance providers.

  Customers Without Service Contracts

  Customers who purchase directly from Cisco but do not hold a Cisco service contract and customers who make purchases through third-party vendors but are unsuccessful in obtaining fixed software through their point of sale should obtain upgrades by contacting the Cisco TAC:
  https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/web/tsd-cisco-worldwide-contacts.html

  Customers should have the product serial number available and be prepared to provide the URL of this advisory as evidence of entitlement to a free upgrade.

  Cisco IOS Software

  To help customers determine their exposure to vulnerabilities in Cisco IOS Software, Cisco provides a tool, the Cisco IOS Software Checker, that identifies any Cisco Security Advisories that impact a specific Cisco IOS Software release and the earliest release that fixes the vulnerabilities described in each advisory (“First Fixed”). If applicable, the tool also returns the earliest release that fixes all the vulnerabilities described in all the advisories identified (“Combined First Fixed”).

  Customers can use this tool to perform the following tasks:

  • Initiate a search by choosing one or more releases from a drop-down menu or uploading a file from a local system for the tool to parse
  • Enter the output of the show version command for the tool to parse
  • Create a custom search by including all previously published Cisco Security Advisories, a specific advisory, or all advisories in the most recent bundled publication

  To determine whether a release is affected by any published Cisco Security Advisory, use the Cisco IOS Software Checker on Cisco.com or enter a Cisco IOS Software release-for example, 15.1(4)M2-in the following field:

   

Exploitation and Public Announcements

• In March 2022, the Cisco Product Security Incident Response Team (PSIRT) became aware of additional attempted exploitation of this vulnerability in the wild. Cisco continues to strongly recommend that customers upgrade to a fixed software release to remediate this vulnerability.

Source

• This vulnerability was found during the resolution of a support case.

URL

• https://sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-20170927-rbip-dos

Revision History

• Version	Description	Section	Status	Date
  1.1	Updated exploitation information.	Exploitation and Public Announcements	Final	2022-DEC-16
  1.0	Initial public release.	—	Final	2017-SEP-27

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