A vulnerability in the Rate Limiting Network Address Translation (NAT) feature of Cisco IOS XE Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to cause high CPU utilization in the Cisco QuantumFlow Processor of an affected device, resulting in a denial of service (DoS) condition. This vulnerability is due to mishandling of the rate limiting feature within the QuantumFlow Processor. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending large amounts of traffic that would be subject to NAT and rate limiting through an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause the QuantumFlow Processor utilization to reach 100 percent on the affected device, resulting in a DoS condition.
This vulnerability carries a HIGH severity rating with a CVSS v3.1 score of 8.6, indicating it can be exploited remotely over the network with relatively low complexity without requiring user interaction and does not require pre-existing privileges . The vulnerability impacts and availability (service disruption) for affected systems. Impacting 20 products from cisco, from cisco, from cisco and 17 others, organizations running these solutions should prioritize assessment and patching.
Reported in 2021, this vulnerability emerged during an era marked by increased sophistication in supply chain attacks, cloud infrastructure vulnerabilities, and software-as-a-service (SaaS) security challenges. Security practices during this period emphasized zero-trust architectures, container security, and API protection.
2021-09-23T03:15:13.610
2024-11-21T05:44:46.050
Modified
CVSSv3.1: 8.6 (HIGH)
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:P
10.0
2.9
| Type | Vendor | Product | Version/Range | Vulnerable? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operating System | cisco | ios_xe | ≤ 17.3.3 | Yes |
| Hardware | cisco | asr_1000 | - | No |
| Hardware | cisco | asr_1000-esp100 | - | No |
| Hardware | cisco | asr_1000-x | - | No |
| Hardware | cisco | asr_1001 | - | No |
| Hardware | cisco | asr_1001-hx | - | No |
| Hardware | cisco | asr_1001-hx_r | - | No |
| Hardware | cisco | asr_1001-x | - | No |
| Hardware | cisco | asr_1001-x_r | - | No |
| Hardware | cisco | asr_1002 | - | No |
| Hardware | cisco | asr_1002-hx | - | No |
| Hardware | cisco | asr_1002-hx_r | - | No |
| Hardware | cisco | asr_1002-x | - | No |
| Hardware | cisco | asr_1002-x_r | - | No |
| Hardware | cisco | asr_1004 | - | No |
| Hardware | cisco | asr_1006 | - | No |
| Hardware | cisco | asr_1006-x | - | No |
| Hardware | cisco | asr_1009-x | - | No |
| Hardware | cisco | asr_1013 | - | No |
| Hardware | cisco | asr_1023 | - | No |
SecUtils normalizes and enriches National Vulnerability Database (NVD) records by standardizing vendor and product identifiers, aggregating vulnerability metadata from both NVD and MITRE sources, and providing structured context for security teams. For cisco's affected products, we extract Common Platform Enumeration (CPE) data, Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) classifications, CVSS severity metrics, and reference data to enable rapid vulnerability prioritization and asset correlation. This record contains no exploit code, proof-of-concept instructions, or attack methodologies—only defensive intelligence necessary for patch management, risk assessment, and security operations.