Cisco IOS and IOS XE Software Internet Key Exchange Version 2 Fragmentation Denial of Service Vulnerability

A vulnerability in the Internet Key Exchange (IKE) version 2 (v2) fragmentation code of Cisco IOS and IOS XE Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to cause a reload of the affected system.

The vulnerability is due to an improper handling of crafted, fragmented IKEv2 packets. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending crafted UDP packets to the affected system. An exploit could allow the attacker to cause a reload of the affected system.

Note: Only traffic directed to the affected system can be used to exploit this vulnerability. This vulnerability can be triggered by IPv4 and IPv6 traffic.

Cisco has released software updates that address this vulnerability. This advisory is available at the following link:
https://sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-20160323-ios-ikev2 [“https://sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-20160323-ios-ikev2”]

This advisory is part of the March 23, 2016, release of the Cisco IOS and IOS XE Software Security Advisory Bundled Publication, which includes six Cisco Security Advisories that describe six vulnerabilities. All the vulnerabilities have a Security Impact Rating of “High.” For a complete list of advisories and links to them, see Cisco Event Response: Semiannual Cisco IOS and IOS XE Software Security Advisory Bundled Publication [“http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/about/security-center/event-response/cisco-erp-march-2016.html”].