Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
CVE-2018-0455 can let a remote unauthenticated attacker disrupt Cisco Firepower inspection by exhausting device memory with SMBv2 or SMBv3 traffic. The result may be stopped traffic forwarding by the SNORT process and possible need for a manual reload. This is mainly a business continuity and network security availability issue.
Executive priority
Prioritize remediation for Firepower devices protecting high-value or outage-sensitive segments. The flaw can interrupt network forwarding and security inspection without attacker authentication, but the provided sources do not show confirmed active exploitation.
Technical view
The vulnerability is incorrect SMB header validation in Cisco Firepower System Software’s SMBv2/SMBv3 handling. A custom SMB file transfer passing through the device can cause excessive memory consumption and prevent SNORT from forwarding traffic. The source says exploitation can use IPv4 or IPv6 with SMBv2 or SMBv3.
Likely exposure
Exposure is most likely where Cisco Firepower or FireSIGHT System Software inspects network paths that carry SMBv2 or SMBv3 over IPv4 or IPv6. The bundle does not identify exact affected versions, so teams must confirm product and version status against Cisco’s advisory.
Exploitation context
The bundle says the flaw is remotely exploitable without authentication. It does not cite public exploitation, exploit availability, or CISA KEV listing; KEV is false in the provided data. Treat active exploitation as unconfirmed based on these sources.
Researcher notes
Version detail is incomplete in the supplied bundle, and CVSS is not provided. Analysis should stay anchored to Cisco’s advisory for product scope and fixes. Avoid assuming exploit maturity; the supported impact is denial of service via SMBv2/SMBv3 processing and SNORT forwarding disruption.
Mitigation direction
- Review the Cisco advisory for affected releases, fixed software, and any listed workarounds.
- Prioritize updates for Firepower devices inspecting SMB traffic on critical network paths.
- Restrict unnecessary SMBv2 and SMBv3 transit from untrusted networks where operationally feasible.
- Monitor Firepower memory, SNORT health, and traffic forwarding status for availability degradation.
- Plan maintenance procedures for reload recovery if a device enters the low-memory condition.
Validation and detection
- Inventory Cisco Firepower and FireSIGHT deployments and record software versions.
- Compare deployed versions with the Cisco advisory’s affected and fixed release information.
- Identify network paths where SMBv2 or SMBv3 traverses Firepower inspection.
- Review device health telemetry for low memory, SNORT failures, or forwarding interruptions.
- Confirm no internal incident evidence before labeling this as actively exploited.
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-19: 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 lookupCVE-2018-0455 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
- Unknown
- CVSS
- Not scored
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
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.
CVSS and timeline data
No CVSS vectors or timeline events were available in the normalized CVE source material.
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- 20181003 Cisco Firepower System Software Detection Engine Denial of Service VulnerabilityCVE reference · vendor-advisory, x_refsource_CISCO
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.
Data Processing Errors
Data Processing Errors represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.