CVE-2017-12238
Resource Management Errors
CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Description
A vulnerability in the Virtual Private LAN Service (VPLS) code of Cisco IOS 15.0 through 15.4 for Cisco Catalyst 6800 Series Switches could allow an unauthenticated, adjacent attacker to cause a C6800-16P10G or C6800-16P10G-XL type line card to crash, resulting in a denial of service (DoS) condition. The vulnerability is due to a memory management issue in the affected software. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by creating a large number of VPLS-generated MAC entries in the MAC address table of an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause a C6800-16P10G or C6800-16P10G-XL type line card to crash, resulting in a DoS condition. This vulnerability affects Cisco Catalyst 6800 Series Switches that are running a vulnerable release of Cisco IOS Software and have a Cisco C6800-16P10G or C6800-16P10G-XL line card in use with Supervisor Engine 6T. To be vulnerable, the device must also be configured with VPLS and the C6800-16P10G or C6800-16P10G-XL line card needs to be the core-facing MPLS interfaces. Cisco Bug IDs: CSCva61927.
Official description from the CVE record, published by cisco. Copyright © 1999-2026 The MITRE Corporation. See /security/cve/legal for the CVE license. View the record on cve.org
Key data
CVSS 3.1 Medium 6.5
CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Attack vector: Adjacent
The attacker needs to be on the same shared network segment or a closely related one.
Attack complexity: Low
No special conditions are needed. The attack can be repeated at will.
Privileges required: None
No account or privileges are needed.
User interaction: None
No action from any user is needed.
Scope: Unchanged
The impact stays within the vulnerable component.
Confidentiality impact: None
No effect on the secrecy of data.
Integrity impact: None
No effect on the trustworthiness of data.
Availability impact: High
Serious or total effect on availability.
| Metric | Value | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Attack vector | Adjacent | The attacker needs to be on the same shared network segment or a closely related one. |
| Attack complexity | Low | No special conditions are needed. The attack can be repeated at will. |
| Privileges required | None | No account or privileges are needed. |
| User interaction | None | No action from any user is needed. |
| Scope | Unchanged | The impact stays within the vulnerable component. |
| Confidentiality impact | None | No effect on the secrecy of data. |
| Integrity impact | None | No effect on the trustworthiness of data. |
| Availability impact | High | Serious or total effect on availability. |
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EPSS
- Score
- 0.02017 (2.0% probability)
- Percentile
- 81.1%
- Scores of
- Nov 10, 2026
- Model
- v2026.06.15
CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities
- Name in the catalog
- Cisco Catalyst 6800 Series Switches VPLS Denial-of-Service Vulnerability
- Added to the catalog
- Mar 3, 2022
- Federal due date
- Mar 24, 2022
CISA assessment as of Nov 8, 2024
- Exploitation
- Recorded by CISA as active
- Automatable
- no
- Technical impact
- partial
Weakness (CWE)
- CWE-399Resource Management Errors
Affected products
Cisco IOS
- affected: Cisco IOS
References
- 1039453 (securitytracker.com)vdb-entry
- 101040 (securityfocus.com)vdb-entry
- tools.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdviso…
Timeline
- ID reserved
- Record published
- Added to CISA KEV
- Record last updated
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Data from the CVE Program (MITRE), CISA KEV and FIRST EPSS. CVSS is owned by FIRST and used by permission. Not affiliated with or endorsed by MITRE, CISA or FIRST. Data as of Nov 10, 2026, 19:32 UTC. Sources and licenses