CVE-2021-40116
Multiple Cisco Products Snort Rule Denial of Service Vulnerability
Multiple Cisco products are affected by a vulnerability in Snort rules that could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to cause a denial of service (DoS) condition on an affected device.The vulnerability is due to improper handling of the Block with Reset or Interactive Block with Reset actions if a rule is configured without proper constraints. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a crafted IP packet to the affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause through traffic to be dropped. Note: Only products with Snort3 configured and either a rule with Block with Reset or Interactive Block with Reset actions configured are vulnerable. Products configured with Snort2 are not vulnerable.
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
Multiple Cisco Products Snort Rule Denial of Service Vulnerability
Multiple Cisco products are affected by a vulnerability in Snort rules that could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to cause a denial of service (DoS) condition on an affected device.The vulnerability is due to improper handling of the Block with Reset or Interactive Block with Reset actions if a rule is configured without proper constraints. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a crafted IP packet to the affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause through traffic to be dropped. Note: Only products with Snort3 configured and either a rule with Block with Reset or Interactive Block with Reset actions configured are vulnerable. Products configured with Snort2 are not vulnerable.
- Record
CVE-2021-40116- CVSS 3.1
- 8.6 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-241
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2021-27303
Multiple Cisco products are affected by a vulnerability in Snort rules that could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to cause a denial of service (DoS) condition on an affected device.The vulnerability is due to improper handling of the Block with Reset or Interactive Block with Reset actions if a rule is configured without proper constraints. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a crafted IP packet to the affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause through traffic to be dropped. Note: Only products with Snort3 configured and either a rule with Block with Reset or Interactive Block with Reset actions configured are vulnerable. Products configured with Snort2 are not vulnerable.
- Record
EUVD-2021-27303- CVSS 3.1
- 8.6 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-03
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-w5gp-j3p5-92ch
Multiple Cisco products are affected by a vulnerability in Snort rules that could allow an...
Multiple Cisco products are affected by a vulnerability in Snort rules that could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to cause a denial of service (DoS) condition on an affected device.The vulnerability is due to improper handling of the Block with Reset or Interactive Block with Reset actions if a rule is configured without proper constraints. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a crafted IP packet to the affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause through traffic to be dropped. Note: Only products with Snort3 configured and either a rule with Block with Reset or Interactive Block with Reset actions configured are vulnerable. Products configured with Snort2 are not vulnerable.
- Record
GHSA-w5gp-j3p5-92ch- CVSS 3.1
- 7.5 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-241
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
NVD
Multiple Cisco products are affected by a vulnerability in Snort rules that could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to cause a denial of service (DoS) condition on an affected device.The vulnerability is due to improper handling of the Block with Reset or Interactive Block with Reset actions if a rule is configured without proper constraints. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a crafted IP packet to the affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause through traffic to be dropped. Note: Only products with Snort3 configured and either a rule with Block with Reset or Interactive Block with Reset actions configured are vulnerable. Products configured with Snort2 are not vulnerable.
- Record
CVE-2021-40116- CVSS 3.1
- 8.6 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H - CVSS 3.1
- 7.5 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H - CVSS 2.0
- 7.1 High
AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:C - Weakness
- CWE-241
- 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-2021-40116 is a high vulnerability (CVSS 8.6) in Cisco Snort, published October 27, 2021. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 1.39%, the 72nd percentile. No source names a fixed version.