CVE-2018-0378
Cisco NX-OS Software for Nexus 5500, 5600, and 6000 Series Switches Precision Time Protocol Denial of Service Vulnerability
A vulnerability in the Precision Time Protocol (PTP) feature of Cisco Nexus 5500, 5600, and 6000 Series Switches running Cisco NX-OS Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to cause a denial of service (DoS) condition on an affected device. The vulnerability is due to a lack of protection against PTP frame flood attacks. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending large streams of malicious IPv4 or IPv6 PTP traffic to the affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause a DoS condition, impacting the traffic passing through the device.
Attack profile
How easy it is to exploit
- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges needed
- None
- User interaction
- None
What an attacker can affect
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
Exploit likelihood
What each source reports
CVE List Score used
8.6
Cisco NX-OS Software for Nexus 5500, 5600, and 6000 Series Switches Precision Time Protocol Denial of Service Vulnerability
A vulnerability in the Precision Time Protocol (PTP) feature of Cisco Nexus 5500, 5600, and 6000 Series Switches running Cisco NX-OS Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to cause a denial of service (DoS) condition on an affected device. The vulnerability is due to a lack of protection against PTP frame flood attacks. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending large streams of malicious IPv4 or IPv6 PTP traffic to the affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause a DoS condition, impacting the traffic passing through the device.
- Record
CVE-2018-0378- CVSS 3.0
- 8.6 High
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-20
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2018-1201
8.6
A vulnerability in the Precision Time Protocol (PTP) feature of Cisco Nexus 5500, 5600, and 6000 Series Switches running Cisco NX-OS Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to cause a denial of service (DoS) condition on an affected device. The vulnerability is due to a lack of protection against PTP frame flood attacks. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending large streams of malicious IPv4 or IPv6 PTP traffic to the affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause a DoS condition, impacting the traffic passing through the device.
- Record
EUVD-2018-1201- CVSS 3.0
- 8.6 High
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-03
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-cqfr-gw47-8rvr
8.6
A vulnerability in the Precision Time Protocol (PTP) feature of Cisco Nexus 5500, 5600, and 6000...
A vulnerability in the Precision Time Protocol (PTP) feature of Cisco Nexus 5500, 5600, and 6000 Series Switches running Cisco NX-OS Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to cause a denial of service (DoS) condition on an affected device. The vulnerability is due to a lack of protection against PTP frame flood attacks. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending large streams of malicious IPv4 or IPv6 PTP traffic to the affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause a DoS condition, impacting the traffic passing through the device.
- Record
GHSA-cqfr-gw47-8rvr- CVSS 3.0
- 8.6 High
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-20
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
NVD
8.6
A vulnerability in the Precision Time Protocol (PTP) feature of Cisco Nexus 5500, 5600, and 6000 Series Switches running Cisco NX-OS Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to cause a denial of service (DoS) condition on an affected device. The vulnerability is due to a lack of protection against PTP frame flood attacks. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending large streams of malicious IPv4 or IPv6 PTP traffic to the affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause a DoS condition, impacting the traffic passing through the device.
- Record
CVE-2018-0378- CVSS 3.0
- 8.6 High
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H - CVSS 2.0
- 7.8 High
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:C - Weakness
- CWE-20
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
Affected products
History
| Recorded | Changed | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| aliases | EUVD | |
| first indexed | CVE List, GitHub Advisories, NVD |
Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.
In short
CVE-2018-0378 is a high vulnerability (CVSS 8.6) in Cisco Nx-os, published October 17, 2018. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 4.01%, the 90th percentile. No source names a fixed version.