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CVE Record

CVE-2019-16022: Cisco IOS XR Software BGP EVPN Denial of Service Vulnerabilities

Multiple vulnerabilities in the implementation of Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) Ethernet VPN (EVPN) functionality in Cisco IOS XR Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to cause a denial of service (DoS) condition. The vulnerabilities are due to incorrect processing of BGP update messages that contain crafted EVPN attributes. An attacker could exploit these vulnerabilities by sending BGP EVPN update messages with malformed attributes to be processed by an affected system. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause the BGP process to restart unexpectedly, resulting in a DoS condition. The Cisco implementation of BGP accepts incoming BGP traffic only from explicitly defined peers. To exploit these vulnerabilities, the malicious BGP update message would need to come from a configured, valid BGP peer, or would need to be injected by the attacker into the victim's BGP network on an existing, valid TCP connection to a BGP peer.

HighCVSS 8.6Not KEV-listedUpdated
Glexia's TakeAutomated analysishigh

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.
Prepared
Confidence
high
Sources
3

Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.

Potential ATT&CK relevance

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

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cwe · low confidence lookup

CWE-399: Exact CWE lookup

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cve · low confidence lookup

CVE-2019-16022 mapping review

Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.

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Vulnerability profileCVE Program record
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

Official CVE source material

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.

1CVSS vectors
0Timeline events
0ADP providers
2Source links

CVSS vector scores

1 official score

We 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.

ScoreVersionSeverityVectorExploitImpactSource
8.6CVSS 3.0HighCVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H3.94Primary CVE score

Vulnerability scoring details

Base CVSS 3.0 score

8.6High
CVSS 3.0 vector shape for CVE-2019-16022Attack VectorAttack ComplexityPrivileges RequiredUser InteractionScopeConfidentiality ImpactIntegrity ImpactAvailability Impact

Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H

Attack Vector
NetworkAdjacentLocalPhysical
Attack Complexity
LowHigh
Privileges Required
NoneLowHigh
User Interaction
NoneRequired
Scope
ChangedUnchanged
Confidentiality Impact
HighLowNone
Integrity Impact
HighLowNone
Availability Impact
HighLowNone

Source materials

Affected products

Products and packages named in the record

VendorProductVersion / packageStatus
CiscoCisco IOS XR SoftwareunspecifiedListed
Weakness

CWE details

CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.

CWE-399 · source CWE mapping

Resource Management Errors

Resource Management Errors represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.