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ExploitedIn CISA KEV

CVE-2018-0159

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

  • Published2018-03-28
  • WeaknessCWE-20

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 implementation of Internet Key Exchange Version 1 (IKEv1) functionality in Cisco IOS Software and Cisco IOS XE Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to cause an affected device to reload, resulting in a denial of service (DoS) condition. The vulnerability is due to improper validation of specific IKEv1 packets. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending crafted IKEv1 packets to an affected device during an IKE negotiation. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause an affected device to reload, resulting in a DoS condition. Cisco Bug IDs: CSCuj73916.

Timeline

dates in UTC
  1. 2018-03-2822:29CVE 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. 2024-11-0817:26SSVC exploitation set to activeCISA-ADP

Observed activity

isMalicious corpus · updated 2026-11-03 03:37 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-2018-0159?format=txt
  • CSV export: https://api.ismalicious.com/edl/cve/CVE-2018-0159?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
15.3= 15.3\(3\)sno fix published
Cisco ios xeversion to verify
BranchAffectedFixed in
15.3= 15.3\(3\)sno fix published

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

Products declared by the CNA1 product

As cisco, the CNA that assigned this CVE, declared them in the CVE record; versions as written.

  • Cisco IOS and IOS XE
    Affected
    • = Cisco IOS and IOS XEno fix stated

Source: the CNA record (CVE Program), © The MITRE Corporation,CVE Terms of UseCVE recordupdated 2018-04-04

Fix

  1. CISA’s required action: Apply updates per vendor instructions.due 2022-03-17

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
Metasploit modules
none listed
Metasploit Framework

CISA Known Exploited Vulnerability

Date Added
2022-03-03
Patch Due Date
2022-03-17
Ransomware Use
Unknown
Required Action
Apply updates per vendor instructions.

Sources

Identifiers

Technical details

CVSS v3 Vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Published
2018-03-28
Last Modified
2026-06-17
NVD status
Analyzed
GitHub Advisory
GHSA-p7j7-5cqq-j6m7

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2018-0159?

A vulnerability in the implementation of Internet Key Exchange Version 1 (IKEv1) functionality in Cisco IOS Software and Cisco IOS XE Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to cause an affected device to reload, resulting in a denial of service (DoS) condition. The vulnerability is due to improper validation of specific IKEv1 packets. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending crafted IKEv1 packets to an affected device during an IKE negotiation. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause an affected device to reload, resulting in a DoS condition. Cisco Bug IDs: CSCuj73916.

Is CVE-2018-0159 actively exploited?

Yes. CVE-2018-0159 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 2022-03-17.

What is the CVSS score for CVE-2018-0159?

CVE-2018-0159 has a CVSS v3 base score of 7.5 (HIGH severity), with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H.

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Sources for this record