Cisco MDS 9000 Series Multilayer Switches Denial of Service Vulnerability

Vulnerability

A resource handling vulnerability in Cisco NX-OS Software for MDS 9000 Series Multilayer Switches allows an unauthenticated, remote attacker to cause a denial of service (DoS) condition. The flaw resides in the resource handling system and is triggered when high-rate traffic is sent to the management interface (mgmt0). Affected devices run NX-OS on MDS 9000 series switches. [1]

Exploitation

An attacker can exploit this vulnerability by sending a high volume of network traffic to the mgmt0 interface from a remote, unauthenticated position. No special privileges or user interaction are required; the attacker only needs network connectivity to the management interface. [1]

Impact

Successful exploitation leads to excessive CPU usage, process crashes, or full system reboots, resulting in a denial of service condition. The device may become unavailable for legitimate management and data-plane operations. [1]

Mitigation

Cisco has provided free software updates to address this vulnerability. The fixed releases are detailed in the Cisco Security Advisory [1]. Customers should upgrade to a fixed software version. No workaround is available; enabling control plane policing or restricting access to mgmt0 may reduce risk but does not eliminate the vulnerability. [1]