Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
This flaw can let malformed BGP EVPN routing updates crash the BGP process on affected Cisco IOS XR routers, causing a denial of service. The practical risk is highest where IOS XR devices run BGP EVPN with trusted peers, because exploitation requires a valid configured BGP peer path or injection into an existing peer connection.
Executive priority
Treat as high priority for networks where IOS XR supports production EVPN services. The main business risk is routing instability or service interruption, not data theft. Prioritize inventory, advisory review, and maintenance planning for exposed routing infrastructure.
Technical view
CVE-2019-16022 covers multiple Cisco IOS XR BGP EVPN parsing flaws caused by incorrect handling of crafted EVPN attributes in BGP update messages. Successful processing can restart the BGP process unexpectedly. The bundle lists Cisco IOS XR Software as affected but does not provide affected or fixed release details.
Likely exposure
Exposure is most likely in carrier, data center, or enterprise routing environments using Cisco IOS XR with BGP EVPN enabled. Internet-wide random exposure is constrained because IOS XR accepts BGP traffic only from configured peers, but compromised or malicious peers remain relevant.
Exploitation context
The source bundle does not report active exploitation, and KEV status is false. Exploitation would require crafted BGP EVPN updates from a configured valid BGP peer or injection into an existing valid TCP connection to a peer.
Researcher notes
The provided evidence is clear on attack class, impact, and peer-path constraint, but incomplete on affected versions and remediation details. Avoid assuming broad reachability; validation should focus on IOS XR BGP EVPN deployments and trusted peer boundaries.
Mitigation direction
- Review Cisco’s advisory for affected and fixed IOS XR release guidance.
- Inventory IOS XR devices running BGP EVPN.
- Restrict BGP peering to trusted, expected neighbors only.
- Assess peer trust and route update controls for EVPN sessions.
- Monitor for unexpected BGP process restarts or EVPN update errors.
Validation and detection
- Confirm whether each IOS XR router has BGP EVPN enabled.
- Map device software versions against Cisco advisory guidance.
- Review configured BGP peer lists for unexpected neighbors.
- Check logs for BGP process restarts after EVPN updates.
- Confirm monitoring alerts cover BGP session instability and process crashes.
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
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-2019-16022 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
- 8.6 (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
- 20200122 Cisco IOS XR Software BGP EVPN Denial of Service VulnerabilitiesCVE 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.
Resource Management Errors
Resource Management Errors represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.
