Reference page — cumulative record through Sunday, October 4, 2026 UTC. Reference pages update as the archive grows; only dated daily editions are immutable pages of record.

CVE-2018-0171

CVE-2018-0171HIGH

n/a Cisco IOS and IOS XE — Cisco IOS and IOS XE

  AV  AC  PR  UI  S  C  I  A   CVSS    EPSS   %ile   KEV
   N   L   N   N  U  N  N  H    7.5   .9948   99.9   YES

AFFECTED
  Product               Versions                Fixed
  Cisco IOS and IOS XE  Cisco IOS and IOS XE –  —

TIMELINE
  Nov 27  Reserved by cisco
  Mar 28  Published (CNA: cisco)
  Nov 3   Added to CISA KEV, remediation due 2022-05-03

CWE-20 · CNA: cisco · CVSS v3.1 · 7 references · KEV due May 3, 2022

Description

A vulnerability in the Smart Install feature of Cisco IOS Software and Cisco IOS XE Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to trigger a reload of an affected device, resulting in a denial of service (DoS) condition, or to execute arbitrary code on an affected device. The vulnerability is due to improper validation of packet data. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a crafted Smart Install message to an affected device on TCP port 4786. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause a buffer overflow on the affected device, which could have the following impacts: Triggering a reload of the device, Allowing the attacker to execute arbitrary code on the device, Causing an indefinite loop on the affected device that triggers a watchdog crash. Cisco Bug IDs: CSCvg76186.

Lifecycle

Complete event history — 3 events, chronological
Date	Event	Detail
November 27, 2017	Reserved	Reserved by cisco
March 28, 2018	Published	Published (CNA: cisco)
November 3, 2021	KEV ADDED	Added to CISA KEV, remediation due 2022-05-03

Affected

Affected products and packages — 1 row
Vendor	Product / Package	Ecosystem	Version introduced	Fixed
n/a	Cisco IOS and IOS XE	—	Cisco IOS and IOS XE	—

Weaknesses

CWE-20

References (7)

http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/103538 [vdb-entry, x_refsource_BID]
http://www.securitytracker.com/id/1040580 [vdb-entry, x_refsource_SECTRACK]
https://ics-cert.us-cert.gov/advisories/ICSA-18-107-04 [x_refsource_MISC]
https://ics-cert.us-cert.gov/advisories/ICSA-18-107-05 [x_refsource_MISC]
https://tools.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-20180328-smi2 [x_refsource_CONFIRM]
https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2018-0171 [government-resource]
https://www.darkreading.com/perimeter/attackers-exploit-cisco-switch-issue-as-vendor-warns-of-yet-another-critical-flaw/d/d-id/1331490 [x_refsource_MISC]

Authoritative record: CVE-2018-0171 at cve.org

Weaknesses: CWE-20

About this page

This is a reference page, not a dated page of record. It assembles the complete lifecycle of CVE-2018-0171 from the CVE Program record, NVD enrichment, the CISA KEV catalog, EPSS, and OSV advisories. The box score's numbers (CVSS, EPSS, KEV status) are current as of Sunday, October 4, 2026 UTC and are re-derived as the archive grows; only dated daily editions are immutable pages of record. The authoritative source for this identifier is cve.org.