Cisco NX-OS Software Authenticated Simple Network Management Protocol Denial of Service Vulnerability

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Updated:June 20, 2018
Document ID:1529512482943601

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Cisco Security Advisory

Cisco NX-OS Software Authenticated Simple Network Management Protocol Denial of Service Vulnerability

High
Advisory ID:
cisco-sa-20180620-nxossnmp
First Published:
2018 June 20 16:00 GMT
Last Updated: 
2020 March 27 19:00 GMT
Version 1.4:
Final
Workarounds:
No workarounds available
CVE-2018-0291
CWE-20
CVSS Score:
Base 7.7Click Icon to Copy Verbose Score
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H/E:X/RL:X/RC:X
CVE-2018-0291
CWE-20

Summary

  • A vulnerability in the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) input packet processor of Cisco NX-OS Software could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to cause the SNMP application on an affected device to restart unexpectedly.

    The vulnerability is due to improper validation of SNMP protocol data units (PDUs) in SNMP packets. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a crafted SNMP packet to an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause the SNMP application to restart multiple times, leading to a system-level restart and a denial of service (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://tools.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-20180620-nxossnmp

    This advisory is part of the June 2018 Cisco FXOS and NX-OS Software Security Advisory Collection, which includes 24 Cisco Security Advisories that describe 24 vulnerabilities. For a complete list of the advisories and links to them, see Cisco Event Response: June 2018 Cisco FXOS and NX-OS Software Security Advisory Collection.

Affected Products

  • Vulnerable Products

    This vulnerability affects the following Cisco products if they are running a vulnerable release of Cisco NX-OS Software:

    • Nexus 2000 Series Switches
    • Nexus 3000 Series Switches
    • Nexus 3500 Platform Switches
    • Nexus 3600 Platform Switches
    • Nexus 5500 Platform Switches
    • Nexus 5600 Platform Switches
    • Nexus 6000 Series Switches
    • Nexus 7000 Series Switches
    • Nexus 7700 Series Switches
    • Nexus 9000 Series Switches in standalone NX-OS mode
    • Nexus 9500 R-Series Line Cards and Fabric Modules
    • UCS 6100 Series Fabric Interconnects
    • UCS 6200 Series Fabric Interconnects
    • UCS 6300 Series Fabric Interconnects

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

    Checking the Status of SNMP

    Administrators can check whether SNMP is running on a device by using the show running-config snmp command on the device CLI. If the command returns output, SNMP is configured.

    nxos-switch# show running-config snmp
!Command: show running-config snmp
.
.
.
snmp-server user admin network-admin auth md5 ***** priv ***** localizedkey
snmp-server community <removed> group network-admin

    Determining the Cisco NX-OS Software Release

    Administrators can check the release of Cisco NX-OS Software that is running on a device by using the show version command in the device CLI. The following example shows the output of this command on a device that is running Cisco NX-OS Software Release 7.3(2)D1(1):

    nxos-switch# show version
    Cisco Nexus Operating System (NX-OS) Software
TAC support: http://www.cisco.com/tac
Documents: http://www.cisco.com/en/US/products/ps9372/tsd_products_support_series_home.html
Copyright (c) 2002-2017, Cisco Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.
The copyrights to certain works contained in this software are
owned by other third parties and used and distributed under
license. Certain components of this software are licensed under
the GNU General Public License (GPL) version 2.0 or the GNU
Lesser General Public License (LGPL) Version 2.1. A copy of each
such license is available at
http://www.opensource.org/licenses/gpl-2.0.php and
http://www.opensource.org/licenses/lgpl-2.1.php
Software
  BIOS:      version 2.12.0
  kickstart: version 7.3(2)D1(1)
  system:    version 7.3(2)D1(1)
.
.
.

    Products Confirmed Not Vulnerable

    Only products listed in the Vulnerable Products section of this advisory are known to be affected by this vulnerability.

    Cisco has confirmed that this vulnerability does not affect the following Cisco products:

    • Firepower 2100 Series
    • Firepower 4100 Series Next-Generation Firewall
    • Firepower 9300 Security Appliance
    • MDS 9000 Series Multilayer Switches
    • Nexus 1000V Series Switches
    • Nexus 1100 Series Cloud Services Platforms
    • Nexus 9000 Series Fabric Switches in Application Centric Infrastructure (ACI) mode

    Cisco has not investigated whether this vulnerability affects Cisco Nexus 4000 Series Switches, Cisco Nexus 5010 Switches, or Cisco Nexus 5020 Switches because those products have reached end-of-life status. For more information, refer to the End-of-Sale and End-of-Life Announcement for the Cisco Nexus 4000 Series Switch Modules for IBM BladeCenter and the End-of-Sale and End-of-Life Announcement for the Cisco Nexus 5010 and Nexus 5020 Switches.

Details

  • The Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) is an application-layer protocol that provides a standardized framework and a common language for monitoring and managing devices in a network. It defines a message format for communication between SNMP managers and agents.

    An SNMP agent gathers data from the SNMP MIB, which is the repository of information about device parameters and network data. It also responds to requests from an SNMP manager to get or set data. An SNMP agent contains MIB variables for which values can be requested or changed by an SNMP manager by using get or set operations.

    This vulnerability affects all versions of SNMP supported on the device—Versions 1, 2c, and 3. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a specific SNMP packet to an affected device via IPv4 or IPv6. Only traffic directed to the affected system can be used to exploit this vulnerability.

    To exploit this vulnerability via SNMP Version 2c or earlier, the attacker must know the SNMP read-only community string for the affected system. A community string is a password that is applied to a device to restrict both read-only and read-write access to the SNMP data on the device. These community strings, as with all passwords, should be chosen carefully to ensure that they are not trivial. They should also be changed at regular intervals and in accordance with network security policies. For example, the strings should be changed when a network administrator changes roles or leaves the organization.

    To exploit this vulnerability via SNMP Version 3, the attacker must have user credentials for the affected system.

Workarounds

  • There are no workarounds that address this vulnerability.

    As a mitigation for the vulnerability that is described in this advisory, administrators can configure an access control list (ACL) on an SNMP community to filter incoming SNMP requests to ensure that SNMP polling is performed only by trusted SNMP clients. In the following example, the device will accept incoming SNMP requests only from a single trusted host, 192.168.1.2:

    switch# show access-list acl_for_snmp
IPV4 ACL acl_for_snmp
  10 permit udp 192.168.1.2/32 192.168.1.3/32 eq snmp

    To implement the preceding ACL, administrators can add it to the snmp-server community configuration command:

    switch# show running-config snmp
!Command: show running-config snmp
snmp-server community mycompany
 use-acl acl_for_snmp

    For additional information about configuring ACLs to filter incoming SNMP requests, see Filtering SNMP Requests in the NX-OS Configuration Guide.

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: http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/general/warranty/English/EU1KEN_.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 upgrade 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: http://www.cisco.com/en/US/support/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.

    Fixed Releases

    Customers are advised to upgrade to an appropriate release as indicated in the applicable table in this section. To help ensure a complete upgrade solution, consider that this advisory is part of a collection. For a complete list of the advisories in the collection and links to them, see Cisco Event Response: June 2018 Cisco FXOS and NX-OS Software Security Advisory Collection.

    In the following tables, the left column lists releases of Cisco FXOS or NX-OS Software. The center column indicates whether a release is affected by the vulnerability described in this advisory and the first release that includes the fix for this vulnerability. The right column indicates whether a release is affected by all the vulnerabilities described in this collection of advisories and which release includes fixes for those vulnerabilities.

    Nexus 3000 Series Switches: CSCuw99630

    Cisco NX-OS Software Release First Fixed Release for This Vulnerability First Fixed Release for All Vulnerabilities Described in the Collection of Advisories
    Prior to 7.0(3)I3 7.0(3)I3(1) 7.0(3)I7(4)
    7.0(3)I4 7.0(3)I4(1) 7.0(3)I7(4)
    7.0(3)I5 7.0(3)I7(1) 7.0(3)I7(4) 
    7.0(3)I6 7.0(3)I7(1)  7.0(3)I7(4) 
    7.0(3)I7 7.0(3)I7(1) 7.0(3)I7(4)


    Nexus 3500 Platform Switches: CSCuw99630

    Cisco NX-OS Software Release First Fixed Release for This Vulnerability First Fixed Release for All Vulnerabilities Described in the Collection of Advisories
    6.0(2) 7.0(3)I7(2) 7.0(3)I7(4)
    7.0(3) 7.0(3)I7(2) 7.0(3)I7(4)


    Nexus 2000, 5500, 5600, and 6000 Series Switches: CSCuw99630

    Cisco NX-OS Software Release First Fixed Release for This Vulnerability First Fixed Release for All Vulnerabilities Described in the Collection of Advisories
    6.0 7.3(3)N1(1) 7.3(3)N1(1)
    7.0  7.3(3)N1(1) 7.3(3)N1(1)
    7.1  7.3(3)N1(1) 7.3(3)N1(1)
    7.2  7.3(3)N1(1) 7.3(3)N1(1)
    7.3 7.3(3)N1(1) 7.3(3)N1(1)


    Nexus 7000 and 7700 Series Switches: CSCuw99630

    Cisco NX-OS Software Release First Fixed Release for This Vulnerability First Fixed Release for All Vulnerabilities Described in the Collection of Advisories
    6.2 6.2(20a) 8.3(1)
    7.2  8.3(1) 8.3(1)
    7.3 8.3(1) 8.3(1)
    8.0 8.3(1) 8.3(1)
    8.1 8.3(1) 8.3(1)
    8.2 8.3(1) 8.3(1)
    8.3 8.3(1) 8.3(1)


    Nexus 9000 Series Switches - Standalone, NX-OS mode: CSCuw99630

    Cisco NX-OS Software Release First Fixed Release for This Vulnerability First Fixed Release for All Vulnerabilities Described in the Collection of Advisories
    Prior to 7.0(3)I3 7.0(3)I3(1)  7.0(3)I7(4)
    7.0(3)I4 7.0(3)I4(1) 7.0(3)I7(4)
    7.0(3)I5 7.0(3)I7(1) 7.0(3)I7(4)
    7.0(3)I6 7.0(3)I7(1) 7.0(3)I7(4)
    7.0(3)I7 7.0(3)I7(1) 7.0(3)I7(4)


    Nexus 9500 R-Series Line Cards and Fabric Modules and Nexus 3600 Platform Switches: CSCuw99630 and CSCvj67977

    Cisco NX-OS Software Release First Fixed Release for This Vulnerability First Fixed Release for All Vulnerabilities Described in the Collection of Advisories
    7.0 No fix available 7.0(3)F3(3a)


    UCS 6100, 6200, and 6300 Fabric Interconnects: CSCvg71290

    Cisco NX-OS Software Release First Fixed Release for This Vulnerability First Fixed Release for All Vulnerabilities Described in the Collection of Advisories
    Prior to 2.2 2.2(8m) 3.2(3h)
    2.2 2.2(8m) 3.2(3h)
    2.5 3.1(3l)  3.2(3h)
    3.0 3.1(3l)  3.2(3h)
    3.1 3.1(3l)   3.2(3h)
    3.2 3.2(3h) 3.2(3h)

Exploitation and Public Announcements

  • The Cisco Product Security Incident Response Team (PSIRT) is not aware of any public announcements or malicious use of the vulnerability that is described in this advisory.

Source

  • This vulnerability was found during internal security testing.

Cisco Security Vulnerability Policy

  • To learn about Cisco security vulnerability disclosure policies and publications, see the Security Vulnerability Policy. This document also contains instructions for obtaining fixed software and receiving security vulnerability information from Cisco.

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Revision History

  • Version Description Section Status Date
    1.0 Initial public release. — Final 2018-JUN-20
    1.1 Updated fixed release data for the Nexus 9000 standalone platform. Fixed Software Final 2018-JUL-05
    1.2 Updated fixed release data for the Nexus 3000 platform and the Nexus 9000 standalone platform. Fixed Software Final 2018-JUL-10
    1.3 Updated the fixed release data for the Nexus 7000 and 7700 platforms. Fixed Software Final 2018-NOV-04
    1.4 Updated the fixed release data for the UCS Fabric Interconnect platforms. Fixed Software Final 2020-MAR-27
    Show Less

Cisco Security Vulnerability Policy

  • To learn about Cisco security vulnerability disclosure policies and publications, see the Security Vulnerability Policy. This document also contains instructions for obtaining fixed software and receiving security vulnerability information from Cisco.

Subscribe to Cisco Security Notifications

Related to This Advisory