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ExploitedIn CISA KEV

CVE-2017-12238

Exploitation confirmed. First attested on 2022-03-03 by CISA-ADP, CISA KEV, GCVE · kevintel.

  • Published2017-09-29
  • WeaknessCWE-399

Am I affected?

With a domain, we read the version its public headers and pages expose. A distribution build can carry the fix under an older number.

Description

A vulnerability in the Virtual Private LAN Service (VPLS) code of Cisco IOS 15.0 through 15.4 for Cisco Catalyst 6800 Series Switches could allow an unauthenticated, adjacent attacker to cause a C6800-16P10G or C6800-16P10G-XL type line card to crash, resulting in a denial of service (DoS) condition. The vulnerability is due to a memory management issue in the affected software. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by creating a large number of VPLS-generated MAC entries in the MAC address table of an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause a C6800-16P10G or C6800-16P10G-XL type line card to crash, resulting in a DoS condition. This vulnerability affects Cisco Catalyst 6800 Series Switches that are running a vulnerable release of Cisco IOS Software and have a Cisco C6800-16P10G or C6800-16P10G-XL line card in use with Supervisor Engine 6T. To be vulnerable, the device must also be configured with VPLS and the C6800-16P10G or C6800-16P10G-XL line card needs to be the core-facing MPLS interfaces. Cisco Bug IDs: CSCva61927.

Timeline

dates in UTC
  1. 2017-09-2901:34CVE publishedNVD
  2. 2022-03-03Added to the CISA KEV catalogCISA KEV
  3. 2022-03-03Listed as exploited by GCVEGCVE
  4. 2022-03-03Exploitation first reportedCISA KEV
  5. 2024-11-0817:32SSVC exploitation set to activeCISA-ADP

Observed activity

isMalicious corpus · updated 2026-10-23 21:37 UTC
Indicators tagged with this CVE, per day0 indicators over 7 days
Block these indicators
  • Firewall list (EDL, text): https://api.ismalicious.com/edl/cve/CVE-2017-12238?format=txt
  • CSV export: https://api.ismalicious.com/edl/cve/CVE-2017-12238?format=csv
  • TAXII collection of exploited CVEs
  • The EDL and CSV take an API key on the Pro plan.

Versions per branch

NVD
Cisco iosversion to verify
BranchAffectedFixed in
15.x≥ 15.0, ≤ 15.4no fix published

as publishedRanges as NVD and OSV publish them; a distribution’s build can be fixed under an older number.

Fix

  1. CISA’s required action: Apply updates per vendor instructions.due 2022-03-24

Advisories and patches

Detection

Nuclei template
none so far
ProjectDiscovery
Exploit-DB
no entry
Exploit-DB
Proof-of-concept repositories
none listed
PoC-in-GitHub

CISA Known Exploited Vulnerability

Date Added
2022-03-03
Patch Due Date
2022-03-24
Ransomware Use
Unknown
Required Action
Apply updates per vendor instructions.

Sources

  • CISA KEVKEV entry2022-03-03
  • GCVEexploitation2022-03-03
  • CISA-ADPSSVC decisionactive2024-11-08
  • OpenCVESSVC decisionactive—
  • CISA-ADPCVSS 3.16.52024-11-08
  • NVDCVSS 3.16.5read 2026-10-23
  • NVDCVSS 2.03.3read 2026-10-23
  • CNAweakness (CWE)CWE-399read 2026-10-23
  • FIRST EPSSEPSS score2.0 %2026-10-22

Technical details

CVSS v3 Vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Published
2017-09-29
Last Modified
2026-06-17
NVD status
Analyzed

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2017-12238?

A vulnerability in the Virtual Private LAN Service (VPLS) code of Cisco IOS 15.0 through 15.4 for Cisco Catalyst 6800 Series Switches could allow an unauthenticated, adjacent attacker to cause a C6800-16P10G or C6800-16P10G-XL type line card to crash, resulting in a denial of service (DoS) condition. The vulnerability is due to a memory management issue in the affected software. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by creating a large number of VPLS-generated MAC entries in the MAC address table of an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause a C6800-16P10G or C6800-16P10G-XL type line card to crash, resulting in a DoS condition. This vulnerability affects Cisco Catalyst 6800 Series Switches that are running a vulnerable release of Cisco IOS Software and have a Cisco C6800-16P10G or C6800-16P10G-XL line card in use with Supervisor Engine 6T. To be vulnerable, the device must also be configured with VPLS and the C6800-16P10G or C6800-16P10G-XL line card needs to be the core-facing MPLS interfaces. Cisco Bug IDs: CSCva61927.

Is CVE-2017-12238 actively exploited?

Yes. CVE-2017-12238 is on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog, meaning it has been confirmed as actively exploited in the wild. CISA requires federal agencies to patch by 2022-03-24.

What is the CVSS score for CVE-2017-12238?

CVE-2017-12238 has a CVSS v3 base score of 6.5 (MEDIUM severity), with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H.

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