Evidence used
- CISA confirms exploitation in the wild.
- The selected CVSS metric records a network-reachable, unauthenticated path with no user interaction.
- EPSS is 14.20% for the current model date.
BlackTreeCVE IntelligenceFull vulnerability report · 2018
CVE-2018-0151High confidence
Cisco IOS Software and Cisco IOS XE Software Quality of Service Remote Code Execution Vulnerability
Cisco · IOS and IOS XE Software
Official source article: Cisco CISCO-SA-20180328-QOS ↗. Check the applicable product and release in the original source.
9.8CriticalCVSS 3.1
Mitigate now
Mitigation availableCISA confirms exploitation in the wild and lists 2022-03-17 as the remediation due date.
R
Open reassessment dashboard →Operational reassessment
Published severity in operational context
Published severityCritical→Operational priority:Critical, unchanged from published severity.unchanged
Compensating controls
- Apply the linked authoritative mitigation while planning the permanent fix.
- Restrict the affected network interface to trusted sources where business-safe.
- Increase monitoring for the attack path and post-exploitation behaviour described in the report.
Verification
- Confirm that the asset runs Cisco IOS and IOS XE Software and falls inside the recorded affected range.
- Recheck the vendor advisory before scheduling a change because no verified fixed version is currently retained.
- Validate exposure, authentication requirements and compensating controls in the actual environment.
- Reopen this reassessment when CVSS, KEV, EPSS, exploit evidence or remediation changes.
CISA confirms exploitation in the wild and lists 2022-03-17 as the remediation due date.
Mitigation available01
What, why and how
A vulnerability in the quality of service (QoS) subsystem of Cisco IOS Software and Cisco IOS XE Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to cause a denial of service (DoS) condition or execute arbitrary code with elevated privileges.
What
A vulnerability in the quality of service (QoS) subsystem of Cisco IOS Software and Cisco IOS XE Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to cause a denial of service (DoS) condition or execute arbitrary code with elevated privileges.
Why
The product performs operations on a memory buffer, but it reads from or writes to a memory location outside the buffer's intended boundary. This may result in read or write operations on unexpected memory locations that could be linked to other variables, data structures, or internal program data.
How
An attacker operating through a network path may attempt exploitation without authentication or user interaction. If successful, the issue may execute code or commands in the affected security context.
What
A vulnerability in the quality of service (QoS) subsystem of Cisco IOS Software and Cisco IOS XE Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to cause a denial of service (DoS) condition or execute arbitrary code with elevated privileges.
Why
The product performs operations on a memory buffer, but it reads from or writes to a memory location outside the buffer's intended boundary. This may result in read or write operations on unexpected memory locations that could be linked to other variables, data structures, or internal program data.
How
An attacker operating through a network path may attempt exploitation without authentication or user interaction. If successful, the issue may execute code or commands in the affected security context.
02
Exploit reality and attack path
CVSS severity, EPSS forecast probability, public exploit material and CISA-confirmed exploitation are separate signals.
Observed exploitation Confirmed in the wild
?
Confirmed exploitation and public exploit material are separate signals. Attacks can occur without public proof-of-concept or exploit code.CISA added this CVE to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalogue on 2022-03-03.
Public PoC / exploit material None recorded
?
Confirmed exploitation and public exploit material are separate signals. Attacks can occur without public proof-of-concept or exploit code.No exploit-tagged reference or CISA SSVC proof-of-concept state is currently recorded. Research may still exist outside the structured feeds.
- Likely attack path
- a network path → Improper Restriction of Operations within the Bounds of a Memory Buffer → execute code or commands in the affected security context
- Attack surface
- Network
- Privileges required
- None: unauthenticated exploitation is possible
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low: no specialised conditions are recorded
- Security boundary
- Unchanged: impact remains within the vulnerable component's security authority
- Weakness
?
CWE means Common Weakness Enumeration: a standard category for the underlying weakness. - CWE-119 ↗
CWE-119: Improper Restriction of Operations within the Bounds of a Memory Buffer. The product performs operations on a memory buffer, but it reads from or writes to a memory location outside the buffer's intended boundary. This may result in read or write operations on unexpected memory locations that could be linked to other variables, data structures, or internal program data.
- CVSS vector
?
CVSS means Common Vulnerability Scoring System. The vector records the metric values used to calculate technical severity. CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:HCommon Vulnerability Scoring System 3.1: the compact vector below is decoded into plain language.
AVNetworkAttack vector: The vulnerable component can be reached over a network.ACLowAttack complexity: No specialised conditions are required beyond attacker-controlled input.PRNonePrivileges required: The attacker does not need an account or existing privileges.UINoneUser interaction: No action by another user is required.SUnchangedScope: The security impact remains within the vulnerable component's authority.CHighConfidentiality impact: A successful attack can cause a major loss.IHighIntegrity impact: A successful attack can cause a major loss.AHighAvailability impact: A successful attack can cause a major loss.- Post-exploitation / living off the land
- After compromise, an attacker may use built-in shells, scripting engines, scheduled tasks and native network utilities for discovery, persistence or movement. This is a plausible LoTL path, not evidence that it has occurred for every attack.
03
Patch and workaround
Operational remediation based on structured source evidence.
- Status
?
Patch availability is based on structured fixed-version fields and authoritative update references. If no fix is verified, check the vendor advisory before making a change. - Mitigation available
- Action
- Apply the mitigation in the linked authoritative guidance while planning the vendor's permanent fix.
- Workaround
- A mitigation or workaround reference is available from the source linked below; validate it against the affected product and version.
04
Evidence and provenance
Published 28 Mar 2018 · Last source change 12 Jan 2026, 21:49 UTC · CWE-119 · Improper Restriction of Operations within the Bounds of a Memory Buffer
CVE recordCVE.org · 5.2
CVSS sourceNIST NVD
EPSS source FIRST · tracked since 2026-09-01
?
The date BlackTree first stored a score for this CVE from the daily FIRST EPSS feed.European sourceENISA EUVD · EUVD-2018-0974
Product sourceCISA KEV
Remediation sourceCVE/CNA references
CWE sourceCNA
NVD statusNVD enriched
Core structured fields are present and their contributing authorities are shown above.
Material change intelligence
View recent updates ↗What changed after publication
- ENISA known-exploited stateENISA EUVD now records this CVE in its known-exploited dataset.ENISA EUVD ↗
- Before
- not listed in ENISA EUVD known-exploited dataset
- After
- listed in ENISA EUVD known-exploited dataset (EUVD-2018-0974)
- ENISA EUVD mappingEUVD-2018-0974 was added to the official ENISA EUVD mapping for this CVE.ENISA EUVD ↗
- Before
- not recorded
- After
- {"euvdId":"EUVD-2018-0974"}
- Affected versionsThe structured affected or fixed version information changed.CNA ↗
- Before
- Cisco IOS and IOS XE · Fixed: No fixed version is explicitly recorded in the structured CVE data.
- After
- Cisco IOS and IOS XE: Cisco IOS and IOS XE · Fixed: No fixed version is explicitly recorded in the structured CVE data.
- Vendor guidanceAuthoritative vendor guidance changed: added mitigation: tools.cisco.com/cisco-sa-20180328-qos; added remediation: tools.cisco.com/cisco-sa-20180328-qos.tools.cisco.com ↗
- Before
- no authoritative guidance recorded
- After
- mitigation: tools.cisco.com/cisco-sa-20180328-qos · remediation: tools.cisco.com/cisco-sa-20180328-qos
- Remediation statusRemediation status changed from Awaiting fix to Mitigation available.tools.cisco.com ↗
- Before
- Awaiting fix
- After
- Mitigation available
- CVSS scoreCVSS scoring authority changed from CISA ADP to NIST NVD; the displayed base score remained 9.8.NIST NVD ↗
- Before
- 9.8 (CVSS 3.1 · CISA ADP · CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H)
- After
- 9.8 (CVSS 3.1 · NIST NVD · CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H)
- Catalogue recordCVE added to the BlackTree catalogue.CNA ↗
CVE published
Added to CISA KEV
Mitigation reference recorded
Technical terms and abbreviations used in this report
- CVE
- Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures: the public identifier for one disclosed vulnerability.
- CVSS
- Common Vulnerability Scoring System: a technical severity framework; it is not patching priority by itself.
- EPSS
- Exploit Prediction Scoring System: FIRST's estimate of the probability that exploitation activity will be observed in the next 30 days; it is a forecast, not confirmation.
- CWE
- Common Weakness Enumeration: the standard category describing the underlying software or hardware weakness.
- CNA
- CVE Numbering Authority: an organisation authorised to assign and publish CVE records.
- CISA ADP
- Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Authorized Data Publisher: structured enrichment added to a CVE record.
- NVD
- National Vulnerability Database: NIST's enrichment service for CVE records.
- CERT / CSIRT
- A computer security incident response team that publishes warnings or coordinates incident response.
- PoC
- Proof of concept: public material that demonstrates or helps reproduce exploitation.
- CSAF
- Common Security Advisory Framework: a machine-readable format for security advisories.
- LoTL
- Living off the land: abuse of legitimate tools or system functions during an attack.