Cisco IOS SNMP Message Handling Vulnerability Published: Apr 21, 2004

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There is a vulnerability in Cisco's Internetwork Operating System (IOS) SNMP service. When vulnerable Cisco routers or switches process specific SNMP requests, the system may reboot.

Systems Affected

     * Cisco routers and switches running vulnerable versions of IOS.
       Vulnerable IOS versions known to be affected include:

     * 12.0(23)S4, 12.0(23)S5
     * 12.0(24)S4, 12.0(24)S5
     * 12.0(26)S1
     * 12.0(27)S
     * 12.0(27)SV, 12.0(27)SV1
     * 12.1(20)E, 12.1(20)E1, 12.1(20)E2
     * 12.1(20)EA1
     * 12.1(20)EW, 12.1(20)EW1
     * 12.1(20)EC, 12.1(20)EC1
     * 12.2(12g), 12.2(12h)
     * 12.2(20)S, 12.2(20)S1
     * 12.2(21), 12.2(21a)
     * 12.2(23)
     * 12.3(2)XC1, 12.3(2)XC2
     * 12.3(5), 12.3(5a), 12.3(5b)
     * 12.3(6)
     * 12.3(4)T, 12.3(4)T1, 12.3(4)T2, 12.3(4)T3
     * 12.3(5a)B
     * 12.3(4)XD, 12.3(4)XD1

Overview

   There is a vulnerability in Cisco's Internetwork Operating System
   (IOS) SNMP service. When vulnerable Cisco routers or switches process
   specific SNMP requests, the system may reboot. If repeatedly
   exploited, this vulnerability could result in a sustained denial of
   service (DoS).

   This vulnerability is distinct from the vulnerability described in
   US-CERT Technical Alert TA04-111A issued earlier today. Cisco has
   published an advisory about this distinct SNMP issue at the following
   location:

   <http://www.cisco.com/warp/public/707/cisco-sa-20040420-snmp.shtml>

I. Description

   The Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) is a widely deployed
   protocol that is commonly used to monitor and manage network devices.
   There are several types of SNMP messages that are used to request
   information or configuration changes, respond to requests, enumerate
   SNMP objects, and send both solicited and unsolicited alerts. These
   messages use UDP to communicate network information between SNMP
   agents and managers.

   There is a vulnerability in Cisco's IOS SNMP service in which attempts
   to process specific SNMP messages are handled incorrectly. This may
   potentially cause the device to reload.

   Typically, ports 161/udp and 162/udp are used during SNMP operations
   to communicate. In addition to these well-known ports, Cisco IOS uses
   a randomly selected UDP port in the range from 49152/udp to 59152/udp
   (and potentially up to 65535) to listen for other types of SNMP
   messages. While SNMPv1 and SNMPv2c formatted messages can trigger this
   vulnerability, the greatest risk is exposed when any SNMPv3 solicited
   operation is sent to a vulnerable port.

   Cisco notes in their advisory:

   "SNMPv1 and SNMPv2c solicited operations to the vulnerable ports will
       perform an authentication check against the SNMP community string,
       which may be used to mitigate attacks. Through best practices of
       hard to guess community strings and community string ACLs, this
       vulnerability may be mitigated for both SNMPv1 and SNMPv2c.
       However, any SNMPv3 solicited operation to the vulnerable ports
       will reset the device. If configured for SNMP, all affected
       versions will process SNMP version 1, 2c and 3 operations."

   Cisco is tracking this issue as CSCed68575. US-CERT is tracking this
   issue as VU#162451.

II. Impact

   A remote, unauthenticated attacker could cause the vulnerable device
   to reload. Repeated exploitation of this vulnerability could lead to a
   sustained denial of service condition.

III. Solution

Upgrade to fixed versions of IOS

   Cisco has published detailed information about upgrading affected
   Cisco IOS software to correct this vulnerability. System managers are
   encouraged to upgrade to one of the non-vulnerable releases. For
   additional information regarding availability of repaired releases,
   please refer to the "Software Versions and Fixes" section of the Cisco
   Security Advisory.

   <http://www.cisco.com/warp/public/707/cisco-sa-20040420-snmp.shtml>

Workarounds

   Cisco recommends a number of workarounds, including disabling SNMP
   processing on affected devices. For a complete list of workarounds,
   see the Cisco Security Advisory.

Appendix A. Vendor Information

   This appendix contains information provided by vendors for this
   advisory. As vendors report new information to US-CERT, we will update
   this section and note the changes in our revision history. If a
   particular vendor is not listed below, we have not received their
   comments.

Cisco Systems

   Please refer to Cisco Security Advisory: "Vulnerabilities in SNMP
   Message Processing". Cisco has published their advisory at the
   following location:

   <http://www.cisco.com/warp/public/707/cisco-sa-20040420-snmp.shtml>
     _________________________________________________________________

   US-CERT thanks Cisco Systems for notifying us about this problem.
     _________________________________________________________________

   Feedback can be directed to the authors: Jeff Havrilla, Shawn Hernan,
   Damon Morda