CVE-2018-0158 — Cisco IOS and XE Software Internet Key Exchange Memory Leak Vulnerability

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.

1. Identify exposed assets running the affected vendor/product/version combinations (Cisco Ios, Cisco Ios Xe).
2. Treat as emergency remediation: the CVE is in CISA KEV (confirmed exploitation).
3. The attack is network-based and needs no privileges: restrict exposure (ACLs, VPN, WAF) until patched.
4. No fix documented in the sources: reduce exposure and monitor the vendor advisory.
5. EPSS ahead of 94% of scored CVEs: prioritize it in the patch queue.
6. Search available logs for exploit probes matching the vulnerability class (memory corruption), 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.

Weakness MITRE

Weakness class according to MITRE’s CWE catalog.

CWE-401 · Missing Release of Memory after Effective Lifetime

Other CVEs with this weakness →

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 7.19%

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).
• Correlate service crashes/restarts with inbound traffic; repeated crashes may indicate attempts.
• 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
• Affected products added · cisco/ios, cisco/ios xe
  Oct 13, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
• Source status changed · Published → Analyzed
  Oct 13, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
• Record published
  Oct 13, 2026
• CVSS changed · 8.6
  Oct 13, 2026 · CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
• Source status changed · → Published
  Oct 13, 2026 · CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
• SSVC assessment updated
  Oct 13, 2026 · CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
• Added to CISA KEV (detected)
  Oct 13, 2026 · CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities
• Record created in this database
  Oct 13, 2026 · CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities
• 2022
• Added to CISA KEV catalog
  Mar 2, 2022 · CISA
• 2018
• CVE published
  Mar 28, 2018 · cisco

Source activity

Repeated readings are counted rather than listed.

• 3× References added · Oct 13, 2026 – Oct 13, 2026
• 1× Official description updated · Oct 13, 2026 – Oct 13, 2026

References

8 on the record

• tools.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-20180328-ike
  x_refsource_CONFIRM, Vendor Advisory, CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
• www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog
  US Government Resource, NIST National Vulnerability Database
• ics-cert.us-cert.gov/advisories/ICSA-18-107-04
  x_refsource_MISC, Third Party Advisory, US Government Resource, VDB Entry, CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
• ics-cert.us-cert.gov/advisories/ICSA-18-107-03
  x_refsource_MISC, Third Party Advisory, US Government Resource, VDB Entry, CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
• nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2018-0158
  GitHub Security Advisories
• www.securityfocus.com/bid/103566
  vdb-entry, x_refsource_BID, Broken Link, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry, CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
• github.com/advisories/GHSA-fm8f-3j2c-52xr
  GitHub Security Advisories
• www.securitytracker.com/id/1040595
  vdb-entry, x_refsource_SECTRACK, Broken Link, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry, CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP

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-2018-0158 is "Cisco IOS and XE Software Internet Key Exchange Memory Leak 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 7.19% 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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