Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
This vulnerability can let an unauthenticated remote attacker crash and reload an affected Cisco IOS XE device, causing a service outage. The issue is tied to improper parsing in the Raw Socket Transport feature over IPv4. The provided sources do not show confirmed active exploitation or exact fixed versions.
Executive priority
Prioritize this for network infrastructure that carries critical business traffic. A successful attack affects availability rather than data theft, but router or switch reloads can still disrupt operations, customer access, and recovery timelines.
Technical view
CVE-2019-12653 affects Cisco IOS XE Software when Raw Socket Transport is exposed. A remote unauthenticated attacker can establish a TCP session and send malformed IPv4 Raw Socket Transport traffic that may trigger device reload. CVSS 3.0 is 8.6, with network access, low complexity, no privileges, and high availability impact.
Likely exposure
Exposure is most likely on Cisco IOS XE devices using Raw Socket Transport and reachable over IPv4 TCP. The source states IPv6 is not affected because the feature does not support IPv6 as a network-layer protocol.
Exploitation context
The source bundle does not include KEV status or any cited evidence of active exploitation. Treat this as a high-impact availability risk because exploitation requires no authentication and can cause device reload, but do not assume exploitation in the wild from these sources alone.
Researcher notes
The evidence supports CWE-20 improper input validation in Raw Socket Transport payload parsing. Affected versions are listed only as unspecified in the bundle, so version-specific conclusions require Cisco advisory confirmation. Avoid treating IPv6 paths as exploitable based on this source.
Mitigation direction
- Review Cisco’s advisory for affected-release and fixed-release guidance before changing devices.
- Identify Cisco IOS XE devices using Raw Socket Transport.
- Reduce untrusted IPv4 TCP reachability to affected devices where operationally feasible.
- Plan vendor-approved remediation during a maintenance window once applicable guidance is confirmed.
Validation and detection
- Inventory Cisco IOS XE devices and current software versions.
- Determine whether Raw Socket Transport is enabled or operationally required.
- Check whether untrusted IPv4 networks can reach affected devices over TCP.
- Review device reload history for unexplained availability events.
- Compare device status against Cisco advisory guidance.
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-20: Exact CWE lookup
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Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2019-12653 mapping review
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Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- High
- CVSS
- 8.6 (3.0)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/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.
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:N/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H3.94Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.0 score
8.6HighVector: CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- 20190925 Cisco IOS XE Software Raw Socket Transport 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.