Cisco IOS XE Software DNS NAT Protocol Application Layer Gateway Denial of Service Vulnerability

A vulnerability in the DNS application layer gateway (ALG) functionality used by Network Address Translation (NAT) in Cisco IOS XE Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to cause an affected device to reload.

The vulnerability is due to a logic error that occurs when an affected device inspects certain DNS packets. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending crafted DNS packets through an affected device that is performing NAT for DNS packets. A successful exploit could allow an attacker to cause the device to reload, resulting in a denial of service (DoS) condition on an affected device.

The vulnerability can be exploited only by traffic that is sent through an affected device via IPv4 packets. The vulnerability cannot be exploited via IPv6 traffic.

Cisco has released software updates that address this vulnerability. There are no workarounds that address this vulnerability.

This advisory is available at the following link:
https://sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-alg-dos-hbBS7SZE [“https://sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-alg-dos-hbBS7SZE”]

This advisory is part of the March 2021 release of the Cisco IOS and IOS XE Software Security Advisory Bundled Publication. For a complete list of the advisories and links to them, see Cisco Event Response: March 2021 Semiannual Cisco IOS and IOS XE Software Security Advisory Bundled Publication [“https://sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/viewErp.x?alertId=ERP-74408”].