A vulnerability in the Easy Virtual Switching System (VSS) of Cisco IOS XE Software on Catalyst 4500 Series Switches could allow an unauthenticated, adjacent attacker to cause the switches to reload. The vulnerability is due to incomplete error handling when processing Cisco Discovery Protocol (CDP) packets used with the Easy Virtual Switching System. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a specially crafted CDP packet. An exploit could allow the attacker to cause the device to reload, resulting in a denial of service (DoS) condition.
The product receives input or data, but it does not validate or incorrectly validates that the input has the properties that are required to process the data safely and correctly.
This category represents one of the phyla in the Seven Pernicious Kingdoms vulnerability classification. It includes weaknesses that occur when an application does not properly handle errors that occur during processing. According to the authors of the Seven Pernicious Kingdoms, "Errors and error handling represent a class of API. Errors related to error handling are so common that they deserve a special kingdom of their own. As with 'API Abuse,' there are two ways to introduce an error-related security vulnerability: the most common one is handling errors poorly (or not at all). The second is producing errors that either give out too much information (to possible attackers) or are difficult to handle."
| Link | Tags |
|---|---|
| https://tools.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-20190327-evss | patch vendor advisory |
| http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/107607 | vdb entry third party advisory |