Cisco IOS XE SD-WAN Software vDaemon Buffer Overflow Vulnerability

Vulnerability

The vulnerability resides in the vDaemon process of Cisco IOS XE SD-WAN Software. It is due to insufficient bounds checking when processing traffic. Affected versions include Cisco IOS XE SD-WAN Software releases prior to the fixed versions detailed in the Cisco Security Advisory [1]. The attacker must have a man-in-the-middle position between Cisco vManage and an affected device.

Exploitation

An unauthenticated, remote attacker can exploit this vulnerability by sending crafted traffic to the device. The attacker must be in a man-in-the-middle position between Cisco vManage and the target device. No authentication is required. The crafted traffic triggers a buffer overflow in the vDaemon process [1].

Impact

Successful exploitation could allow the attacker to conduct a controllable buffer overflow attack, potentially executing arbitrary commands as the root user, or cause a device reload resulting in a denial of service (DoS) condition. The impact is high: full compromise or service disruption [1].

Mitigation

Cisco has released free software updates to address this vulnerability. Customers should upgrade to fixed versions as specified in the Cisco Security Advisory [1]. No workarounds are mentioned. The advisory provides details on obtaining updates.