Threats / Cisco / CVE-2018-0175
CVE-2018-0175
· EUVD no mirror located
· GCVE no mirror located
Verified 2026-08-04
Cisco IOS, XR, and XE Software vulnerability
Format string vulnerability in LLDP subsystem of Cisco IOS, IOS XE, and IOS XR Software allows unauthenticated adjacent attackers to cause denial of service or execute arbitrary code with elevated privileges.
Verdict
Today item — known-exploited.
An adjacent attacker can exploit a format string flaw in LLDP to crash affected Cisco devices or gain elevated code execution. The vulnerability has been exploited in the wild and requires network adjacency but no authentication.
CISA KEV Yes · 2022-03-035EPSS 0.03547 (verify live)6CVSS 8 (CISA)4CISA SSVC Exploitation: active · Automatable: no · Impact: total4
01
Is it exploitable?
— the evidence, ranked above the scoreReported exploitation
2 independent public reports of in-the-wild exploitation are cataloged.Distinct reporting sources (vendor, incident response, government); open them for the underlying claims.
Exploited in the wild
Listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog (added 2022-03-03).
Probability (EPSS)
EPSS 0.03547 — modeled likelihood of exploitation activity.EPSS is a daily-changing model output — open the source for today's value.
Severity / affected
CVSS 8 (CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H) · Affected: Cisco, IOS, XR, and XE Software. Confirm exact fixed builds in the vendor advisory.CVSS — CISA-assigned via the ADP container (CVE.org), version 3.1; the CNA left no metrics, so CISA's own score is used ahead of NVD.
Weakness (CWE)
Mapped to CWE-119 Memory Buffer Bounds Error — weakness family: Memory safety.CWE — CNA-assigned (CVE.org); the weakness class drives how the flaw is exploited.
CISA SSVC (triage disposition)
Exploitation: active · Automatable: no · Technical Impact: totalCISA's own stakeholder-specific triage inputs, published in the CVE record (CISA Coordinator role). NOTE: this is CISA's three decision points; the final Act/Attend/Track decision also requires a Mission & Well-being input not published here, so no overall decision is asserted.
Currency of the record
CISA added this to its KEV catalog 1436 days after the CVE record was published.KEV lag = CISA-KEV dateAdded − CVE.org datePublished; a floor on how long the known-exploited flaw sat in the public record before the federal catalog listed it. Severity/weakness here is CNA- or CISA-assigned (current at disclosure), independent of NVD's analysis backlog.
02
Who’s exploiting it?
— attribution turns risk into urgencyAttribution not established
No confirmed (advisory-backed) threat-actor attribution is established for this record. Absence of a named actor is not absence of compromise — see Coverage & confidence.
03
Why it matters
— the attack path, told twice: adversary, then board1
Front door — unauthenticated access narrative 1
Attacker
I craft a malicious LLDP packet containing format string sequences and send it to an adjacent network segment where the target device resides.
Business
Network infrastructure becomes vulnerable to disruption from attackers positioned on adjacent network segments without requiring credentials.
2
Keys to the kingdom — privilege/identity takeover narrative 2
Attacker
I trigger the format string vulnerability to read or write memory on the device, potentially escalating to arbitrary code execution with elevated privileges.
Business
Attackers gain the ability to compromise core network devices and maintain persistent control over critical infrastructure.
3
Lateral reach — past segmentation narrative 3
Attacker
I cause the affected device to crash by exploiting the format string flaw, resulting in a denial of service condition.
Business
Network availability is degraded as Cisco routing and switching infrastructure becomes unavailable to legitimate traffic.
04
What to do
— defensible action- Remediate per the vendor advisory — confirm the fixed build for your version and verify exposure.1
Say it to the boardA vulnerability with this evidence profile is a defensible budget line, not a backlog ticket — fund the change against the proof above.
05