Cisco IOS XE Software Catalyst 4500 Cisco Discovery Protocol Denial of Service Vulnerability

A vulnerability in the Easy Virtual Switching System (VSS) of Cisco IOS XE Software on Catalyst 4500 Series Switches could allow an unauthenticated, adjacent attacker to cause the switches to reload.

The vulnerability is due to incomplete error handling when processing Cisco Discovery Protocol (CDP) packets used with the Easy Virtual Switching System. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a specially crafted CDP packet. An exploit could allow the attacker to cause the device to reload, resulting in a denial of service (DoS) condition.

Cisco has released software updates that address this vulnerability. There are workarounds that address this vulnerability.

This advisory is available at the following link:
https://sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-20190327-evss [“https://sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-20190327-evss”]

This advisory is part of the March 27, 2019, release of the Cisco IOS and IOS XE Software Security Advisory Bundled Publication, which includes 17 Cisco Security Advisories that describe 19 vulnerabilities. For a complete list of the advisories and links to them, see Cisco Event Response: March 2019 Semiannual Cisco IOS and IOS XE Software Security Advisory Bundled Publication [“https://sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/viewErp.x?alertId=ERP-71135”].