Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
This is a serious Cisco IOS XE SNMP flaw in network devices. An attacker with the SNMP community string or SNMPv3 credentials could crash the device or potentially take full control. Because CISA lists CVE-2017-6742 in KEV, treat remaining exposure as urgent, especially on internet-reachable or broadly reachable management interfaces.
Executive priority
Treat as an urgent network-infrastructure remediation item. The vulnerability can affect core availability and device control, and KEV status means delayed remediation carries real operational risk. Prioritize externally reachable and shared-management-network devices first.
Technical view
CVE-2017-6742 is a CWE-119 buffer overflow in Cisco IOS XE SNMP handling affecting SNMPv1, v2c, and v3. It is remotely reachable over the network, requires low privileges, and no user interaction. Crafted SNMP traffic directed at the device may trigger reload or arbitrary code execution with high confidentiality, integrity, and availability impact.
Likely exposure
Exposure is likely where Cisco IOS XE devices run affected 3.xS, 3.xE, or 16.x versions and SNMP is enabled. Risk increases when SNMP is reachable beyond a tightly controlled management network, or where read-only community strings or SNMPv3 credentials may be known, reused, or weakly protected.
Exploitation context
CISA KEV status supports known exploitation in the wild. The provided sources do not include exploit details, observed campaigns, or proof-of-concept maturity. Exploitation requires SNMP access and valid community string or SNMPv3 credentials, but successful exploitation can cause reload or full device compromise.
Researcher notes
The bundle confirms Cisco IOS XE impact, SNMP authentication prerequisite, all SNMP versions affected, CVSS 8.8, CWE-119, and KEV status. It does not provide fixed-release details, exploit telemetry, or product-specific configuration mitigations, so validation should stay tied to Cisco advisory data.
Mitigation direction
- Check Cisco advisory for affected releases and fixed software guidance.
- Prioritize upgrade or remediation for devices matching affected IOS XE versions.
- Restrict SNMP access to trusted management hosts and networks.
- Rotate exposed SNMP community strings or credentials after remediation.
- Disable unnecessary SNMP where business operations allow.
Validation and detection
- Inventory Cisco IOS XE versions across routers, switches, and network appliances.
- Confirm whether SNMPv1, v2c, or v3 is enabled on each device.
- Verify SNMP reachability from untrusted, user, partner, and internet-facing networks.
- Compare device software versions against Cisco advisory affected version data.
- Review logs for unexpected SNMP traffic, reloads, or management-plane anomalies.
Public sources used
Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.
Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context
These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.
ATT&CK lookup starting points
Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.
CWE-119: Exact CWE lookup
Use the exact CWE identifier as the starting point before reviewing related ATT&CK behavior. Open the exact CWE lookup page first, then review the ATT&CK searches from that MITRE weakness context. This is a Glexia lookup hint, not an official ATT&CK mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupExecution behavior lookup
The CVE wording references code or command execution, so execution technique review may help defensive triage. This is a Glexia inferred lookup path, not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, or CVE Program mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2017-6742 mapping review
Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.
Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- High
- CVSS
- 8.8 (3.0)
- Known Exploited
- Yes
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5
These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.
CISA KEV status
CVSS vector scores
1 official scoreWe collect every scored CVSS vector available in the official CNA and ADP containers. When more than one version is present, the table keeps the source vectors side by side instead of collapsing them into the highest score.
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H2.85.9Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.0 score
8.8HighVector: CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- cisco-sa-20170629-snmpCVE reference
- https://tools.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-20170629-snmpCVE reference · x_refsource_CONFIRM, x_transferred
- https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2017-6742CVE reference · government-resource
Products and packages named in the record
CWE details
CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.
Improper Restriction of Operations within the Bounds of a Memory Buffer
Improper Restriction of Operations within the Bounds of a Memory Buffer represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.