CVE-2021-1268
Cisco IOS XR Software IPv6 Flood Denial of Service Vulnerability
A vulnerability in the IPv6 protocol handling of the management interfaces of Cisco IOS XR Software could allow an unauthenticated, adjacent attacker to cause an IPv6 flood on the management interface network of an affected device. The vulnerability exists because the software incorrectly forwards IPv6 packets that have an IPv6 node-local multicast group address destination and are received on the management interfaces. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by connecting to the same network as the management interfaces and injecting IPv6 packets that have an IPv6 node-local multicast group address destination. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause an IPv6 flood on the corresponding network. Depending on the number of Cisco IOS XR Software nodes on that network segment, exploitation could cause excessive network traffic, resulting in network degradation or a denial of service (DoS) condition.
Attack profile
How easy it is to exploit
- Attack vector
- Adjacent 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
7.4
Cisco IOS XR Software IPv6 Flood Denial of Service Vulnerability
A vulnerability in the IPv6 protocol handling of the management interfaces of Cisco IOS XR Software could allow an unauthenticated, adjacent attacker to cause an IPv6 flood on the management interface network of an affected device. The vulnerability exists because the software incorrectly forwards IPv6 packets that have an IPv6 node-local multicast group address destination and are received on the management interfaces. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by connecting to the same network as the management interfaces and injecting IPv6 packets that have an IPv6 node-local multicast group address destination. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause an IPv6 flood on the corresponding network. Depending on the number of Cisco IOS XR Software nodes on that network segment, exploitation could cause excessive network traffic, resulting in network degradation or a denial of service (DoS) condition.
- Record
CVE-2021-1268- CVSS 3.1
- 7.4 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-1076
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2021-6735
7.4
A vulnerability in the IPv6 protocol handling of the management interfaces of Cisco IOS XR Software could allow an unauthenticated, adjacent attacker to cause an IPv6 flood on the management interface network of an affected device. The vulnerability exists because the software incorrectly forwards IPv6 packets that have an IPv6 node-local multicast group address destination and are received on the management interfaces. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by connecting to the same network as the management interfaces and injecting IPv6 packets that have an IPv6 node-local multicast group address destination. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause an IPv6 flood on the corresponding network. Depending on the number of Cisco IOS XR Software nodes on that network segment, exploitation could cause excessive network traffic, resulting in network degradation or a denial of service (DoS) condition.
- Record
EUVD-2021-6735- CVSS 3.1
- 7.4 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-03
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-374q-g769-jjp8 No score
A vulnerability in the IPv6 protocol handling of the management interfaces of Cisco IOS XR...
A vulnerability in the IPv6 protocol handling of the management interfaces of Cisco IOS XR Software could allow an unauthenticated, adjacent attacker to cause an IPv6 flood on the management interface network of an affected device. The vulnerability exists because the software incorrectly forwards IPv6 packets that have an IPv6 node-local multicast group address destination and are received on the management interfaces. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by connecting to the same network as the management interfaces and injecting IPv6 packets that have an IPv6 node-local multicast group address destination. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause an IPv6 flood on the corresponding network. Depending on the number of Cisco IOS XR Software nodes on that network segment, exploitation could cause excessive network traffic, resulting in network degradation or a denial of service (DoS) condition.
- Record
GHSA-374q-g769-jjp8- Weakness
- CWE-1076
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
NVD
7.4
A vulnerability in the IPv6 protocol handling of the management interfaces of Cisco IOS XR Software could allow an unauthenticated, adjacent attacker to cause an IPv6 flood on the management interface network of an affected device. The vulnerability exists because the software incorrectly forwards IPv6 packets that have an IPv6 node-local multicast group address destination and are received on the management interfaces. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by connecting to the same network as the management interfaces and injecting IPv6 packets that have an IPv6 node-local multicast group address destination. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause an IPv6 flood on the corresponding network. Depending on the number of Cisco IOS XR Software nodes on that network segment, exploitation could cause excessive network traffic, resulting in network degradation or a denial of service (DoS) condition.
- Record
CVE-2021-1268- CVSS 3.1
- 7.4 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H - CVSS 3.1
- 6.5 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H - CVSS 2.0
- 3.3 Low
AV:A/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:P - Weakness
- CWE-1076
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
Affected products
History
| Recorded | Changed | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| aliases, published | EUVD | |
| first indexed | CVE List, GitHub Advisories, NVD |
Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.
In short
CVE-2021-1268 is a high vulnerability (CVSS 7.4) in Cisco Ios Xr Software, published February 4, 2021. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 0.51%, the 43rd percentile. No source names a fixed version.