CVE-2018-0155 — Cisco Catalyst Bidirectional Forwarding Detection Denial-of-Service Vulnerability
A vulnerability in the Bidirectional Forwarding Detection (BFD) offload implementation of Cisco Catalyst 4500 Series Switches and Cisco Catalyst 4500-X Series Switches could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to cause a crash of the iosd process, causing a denial of service (DoS) condition. The vulnerability is due to insufficient error handling when the BFD header in a BFD packet is incomplete. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a crafted BFD message to or across an affected switch. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to trigger a reload of the system. This vulnerability affects Catalyst 4500 Supervisor Engine 6-E (K5), Catalyst 4500 Supervisor Engine 6L-E (K10), Catalyst 4500 Supervisor Engine 7-E (K10), Catalyst 4500 Supervisor Engine 7L-E (K10), Catalyst 4500E Supervisor Engine 8-E (K10), Catalyst 4500E Supervisor Engine 8L-E (K10), Catalyst 4500E Supervisor Engine 9-E (K10), Catalyst 4500-X Series Switches (K10), Catalyst 4900M Switch (K5), Catalyst 4948E Ethernet Switch (K5). Cisco Bug IDs: CSCvc40729.
Who exploits it and how urgent it is
A 0–100 score combining confirmed exploitation, ransomware and APT use, public exploits, EPSS and severity.
How the score was calculated
- Confirmed exploitation (CISA KEV)+35
- EPSS 7.7% (30-day exploitation probability)+14
- Technical severity (high)+6
- Automatable exploitation (SSVC)+3
The score orders the patch queue; it does not replace your asset context (internet exposure, criticality, compensating controls).
Triage
Is it exploited, how likely is exploitation, what does it touch, and how severe do the sources call it.
CISA SSVC assessment CISA
Three decision points CISA publishes for the CVEs it assesses (SSVC 2.0.3). A stakeholder decision, not a severity score.
Remediation
Fixes and mitigations documented by the sources — linked to the original advisory.
No fix documented by the sources we poll. That does not mean none exists: check the vendor advisory.
CISA required action CISA
Apply updates per vendor instructions.
US federal deadline: Mar 17, 2022 — passed 1673 day(s) ago
First 24 hours
Ordered from the record’s own fields — exposure first, because you cannot patch what you have not found. A rule-generated starting point.
- Identify exposed assets running the affected vendor/product/version combinations (Cisco Ios, Cisco Ios Xe).
- Treat as emergency remediation: the CVE is in CISA KEV (confirmed exploitation).
- The attack is network-based and needs no privileges: restrict exposure (ACLs, VPN, WAF) until patched.
- No fix documented in the sources: reduce exposure and monitor the vendor advisory.
- EPSS ahead of 95% of scored CVEs: prioritize it in the patch queue.
- Search available logs for exploit probes, errors and authentication anomalies.
Affected scope
Vendor, product and versions as the sources word them.
Attack characteristics
The CVSS vector, decoded. It describes the attack, not your exposure to it.
Every base score collected
Sources score independently and may disagree; each row says who scored it and under which version.
| Score | Version | Severity | Expl. | Impact | Scored by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8.6 | CVSS 3.1 | High | 3.9 | 4.0 | nvd@nist.gov via NIST National Vulnerability Database |
| 8.6 | CVSS 3.1 | High | 3.9 | 4.0 | 134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0 via NIST National Vulnerability Database |
| 8.6 | CVSS 3.1 | High | — | — | GitHub, Inc. via GitHub Security Advisories |
| 8.6 | CVSS 3.1 | High | — | — | CISA-ADP via CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP |
| 7.8 | CVSS 2.0 | High | 10.0 | 6.9 | nvd@nist.gov via NIST National Vulnerability Database |
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H (score shown at the top: nvd@nist.gov) Weakness MITRE
Weakness class according to MITRE’s CWE catalog.
CISA KEV details CISA
CISA lists a CVE once it has evidence of exploitation against real targets.
CISA records ransomware use only for campaigns it has confirmed, so “Unknown” means unrecorded, not ruled out. The deadline binds US federal agencies; for everyone else it is a reference date.
EPSS over time FIRST
Oct 13, 2026 → Oct 14, 2026 · 2 reading(s) · max 7.74%
Detection
Read off the CVSS vector and the weakness class. Starting points, not tested rules.
- Prioritize edge telemetry for the network-reachable component (proxy, WAF, IDS/IPS).
- Hunt retroactively in logs from before Mar 3, 2022 (KEV listing): exploitation may have started earlier.
Timeline
What happened to this CVE, newest first.
- 2026
- SSVC assessment updated
- Record published
- Affected products added · cisco/ios, cisco/ios xe
- CVSS changed · 8.6
- Source status changed · → Analyzed
- Added to CISA KEV (detected)
- Record created in this database
- 2022
- Added to CISA KEV catalog
- 2018
- CVE published
Source activity
Repeated readings are counted rather than listed.
- 2× References added · Oct 13, 2026 – Oct 13, 2026
- 1× Official description updated · Oct 13, 2026 – Oct 13, 2026
References
7 on the record
- tools.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-20180328-bfd
- www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog
- www.securitytracker.com/id/1040587
- github.com/advisories/GHSA-qmg7-32mc-92p9
- nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2018-0155
- ics-cert.us-cert.gov/advisories/ICSA-18-107-05
- www.securityfocus.com/bid/103565
Elsewhere on this site
Related CVEs (same products)
- High CVE-2026-20125 A vulnerability in the HTTP Server feature of Cisco IOS Software and Cisco IOS XE… Mar 25, 2026
- Medium CVE-2026-20104 A vulnerability in the bootloader of Cisco IOS XE Software for Cisco Catalyst 9200… Mar 25, 2026
- High CVE-2026-20084 Uncontrolled Resource Consumption in Cisco Ios Xe Mar 25, 2026
- High CVE-2026-20012 Missing Release of Memory after Effective Lifetime in Cisco Secure Firewall Threat Defense Mar 25, 2026
- High CVE-2026-20004 A vulnerability in the TLS library of Cisco IOS XE Software could allow an… Mar 25, 2026
- High CVE-2025-20352 Cisco IOS and IOS XE Software SNMP Denial of Service and Remote Code Execution Vulnerability KEV Sep 24, 2025
Not in any source we poll
Listed rather than left blank: an empty field and an unmeasured one look identical on screen, and only one is a reason to look elsewhere.
- No fixed version, patch or mitigation documented.
- No confirmed IOCs, IP addresses, domains, file hashes, or malware artifacts supplied.
- No organization-specific asset inventory, compensating-control status, or patch deployment evidence supplied.
- No exploit packet captures, log samples, or incident case IDs supplied.
Answered from this record
Text assembled only from the fields above — no additional claims.
What should defenders know first?
CVE-2018-0155 is "Cisco Catalyst Bidirectional Forwarding Detection Denial-of-Service Vulnerability", rated High. It affects Ios (Cisco); versions are in the scope table. It is in CISA KEV: there is evidence of real-world exploitation. CVSS 8.6 describes technical severity. EPSS 7.74% estimates the probability of exploitation in 30 days; neither replaces your asset context. First verify whether exposed or business-critical assets run the affected versions, apply vendor fixes or mitigations, and preserve logs for review.
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