Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
This Cisco IOS issue can let a low-privileged remote user crash certain Catalyst switches through SNMP, causing device restarts and network disruption. The CVE is medium by CVSS, but CISA KEV listing means known exploitation exists, raising operational urgency.
Executive priority
Treat as a high-priority network availability issue where affected switches support important sites, building systems, or access networks. KEV status justifies accelerated validation and remediation.
Technical view
CVE-2018-0161 affects Cisco Catalyst 2960-L and Catalyst Digital Building 8P/8U switches running vulnerable IOS releases with SNMPv2 or SNMPv3 enabled. An authenticated SNMP read request involving the ciscoFlashMIB OID can trigger a SYS-3-CPUHOG condition and restart the device, creating a denial-of-service impact.
Likely exposure
Exposure is likely limited to the named Cisco Catalyst models, vulnerable Cisco IOS releases, and environments where SNMPv2 or SNMPv3 is enabled and reachable by an authenticated user.
Exploitation context
CISA lists CVE-2018-0161 in the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. The provided sources do not include exploit volume, targeting details, public exploit availability, or campaign attribution.
Researcher notes
The evidence supports authenticated remote denial of service, not confidentiality or integrity compromise. Scope appears model-specific and configuration-dependent. Source details do not establish unauthenticated exploitation, persistence, lateral movement, or a universal Cisco IOS impact.
Mitigation direction
- Check Cisco's advisory for affected and fixed IOS release guidance.
- Prioritize remediation for internet-reachable or broadly reachable SNMP management paths.
- Restrict SNMP access to trusted management networks and authorized users.
- Review whether SNMPv2 or SNMPv3 is required on affected switch models.
- Monitor for unexpected switch restarts and SYS-3-CPUHOG events.
Validation and detection
- Inventory Catalyst 2960-L and Digital Building 8P/8U switches.
- Confirm Cisco IOS release versions against Cisco's advisory.
- Verify whether SNMPv2 or SNMPv3 is enabled on each device.
- Review management-plane exposure for SNMP reachability.
- Check operational logs for unexpected reloads or CPUHOG messages.
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-399: Exact CWE lookup
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Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2018-0161 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
- Medium
- CVSS
- 6.3 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- Yes
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/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:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H1.84Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
6.3MediumVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://tools.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-20180328-snmpCVE reference · x_refsource_CONFIRM
- https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2018-0161CVE 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.
Resource Management Errors
Resource Management Errors represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.