Cisco ASR1000 Series Routers ESP Module Denial of Service Vulnerability

A vulnerability in the Embedded Services Processor (ESP) module of Cisco ASR 1000 Series Routers running Cisco IOS XE Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to cause a denial of service (DoS) condition.

The vulnerability is due to improper handling of malformed H.323 packets by an affected device when the device is configured to use Network Address Translation (NAT). An unauthenticated, remote attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending malformed H.323 packets to a targeted device. A successful exploit could cause the ESP module on the device to crash, resulting in a DoS condition.

Cisco has confirmed the vulnerability and released software updates.

To exploit this vulnerability, an attacker may need to obtain additional information such as whether the targeted device is configured to use NAT. In addition, the attacker may need access to trusted, internal networks to send H.323 packets to the device. These requirements could limit the possibility of a successful exploit.