Cisco IOS Software RTCP Input Queue Vulnerability

A vulnerability in handling Real-Time Control Protocol (RTCP) traffic in Cisco Unified Border Element (CUBE) could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to cause traffic that is destined to an affected device and traffic that needs to be processed switched to fail.

The vulnerability is due to exhaustion of the interface input queue by the RTCP traffic. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending RTCP packets in a specific sequence. An exploit could allow the attacker to cause traffic to fail that is destined to an affected device as well as traffic that needs to be processed switched.

Cisco has confirmed the vulnerability in a security notice and released software updates.

To exploit this vulnerability, an attacker may need access to trusted, internal networks in which the targeted device may reside, to send RTCP packets to be processed by the device. This access requirement may reduce the likelihood of a successful exploit.

Cisco indicates through the CVSS score that functional exploit code exists; however, the code is not known to be publicly available.