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CVE-2022-20679

Cisco IOS XE Software IPSec Denial of Service Vulnerability

6.8 Medium

A vulnerability in the IPSec decryption routine of Cisco IOS XE Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to cause an affected device to reload, resulting in a denial of service (DoS) condition. This vulnerability is due to buffer exhaustion that occurs while traffic on a configured IPsec tunnel is being processed. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending traffic to an affected device that has a maximum transmission unit (MTU) of 1800 bytes or greater. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause the device to reload. To exploit this vulnerability, the attacker may need access to the trusted network where the affected device is in order to send specific packets to be processed by the device. All network devices between the attacker and the affected device must support an MTU of 1800 bytes or greater. This access requirement could limit the possibility of a successful exploit.

Attack profile

How easy it is to exploit

Attack vector
Network
Complexity
High
Privileges needed
None
User interaction
None

What an attacker can affect

Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

Exploit likelihood

1.31%Up 0.3 points since Apr 16, 2022
90%50%10%1%

What each source reports

CVE List Score used 6.8

Cisco IOS XE Software IPSec Denial of Service Vulnerability

A vulnerability in the IPSec decryption routine of Cisco IOS XE Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to cause an affected device to reload, resulting in a denial of service (DoS) condition. This vulnerability is due to buffer exhaustion that occurs while traffic on a configured IPsec tunnel is being processed. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending traffic to an affected device that has a maximum transmission unit (MTU) of 1800 bytes or greater. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause the device to reload. To exploit this vulnerability, the attacker may need access to the trusted network where the affected device is in order to send specific packets to be processed by the device. All network devices between the attacker and the affected device must support an MTU of 1800 bytes or greater. This access requirement could limit the possibility of a successful exploit.

Record
CVE-2022-20679
CVSS 3.1
6.8 MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H
Weakness
CWE-20
Updated
2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2022-25929 6.8

A vulnerability in the IPSec decryption routine of Cisco IOS XE Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to cause an affected device to reload, resulting in a denial of service (DoS) condition. This vulnerability is due to buffer exhaustion that occurs while traffic on a configured IPsec tunnel is being processed. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending traffic to an affected device that has a maximum transmission unit (MTU) of 1800 bytes or greater. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause the device to reload. To exploit this vulnerability, the attacker may need access to the trusted network where the affected device is in order to send specific packets to be processed by the device. All network devices between the attacker and the affected device must support an MTU of 1800 bytes or greater. This access requirement could limit the possibility of a successful exploit.

Record
EUVD-2022-25929
CVSS 3.1
6.8 MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H
Updated
2026-11-03
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-hjgj-jq86-rpmm 7.7

A vulnerability in the IPSec decryption routine of Cisco IOS XE Software could allow an...

A vulnerability in the IPSec decryption routine of Cisco IOS XE Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to cause an affected device to reload, resulting in a denial of service (DoS) condition. This vulnerability is due to buffer exhaustion that occurs while traffic on a configured IPsec tunnel is being processed. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending traffic to an affected device that has a maximum transmission unit (MTU) of 1800 bytes or greater. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause the device to reload. To exploit this vulnerability, the attacker may need access to the trusted network where the affected device is in order to send specific packets to be processed by the device. All network devices between the attacker and the affected device must support an MTU of 1800 bytes or greater. This access requirement could limit the possibility of a successful exploit.

Record
GHSA-hjgj-jq86-rpmm
CVSS 3.1
7.7 HighCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H
Weakness
CWE-20
Updated
2026-11-02
NVD 6.8

A vulnerability in the IPSec decryption routine of Cisco IOS XE Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to cause an affected device to reload, resulting in a denial of service (DoS) condition. This vulnerability is due to buffer exhaustion that occurs while traffic on a configured IPsec tunnel is being processed. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending traffic to an affected device that has a maximum transmission unit (MTU) of 1800 bytes or greater. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause the device to reload. To exploit this vulnerability, the attacker may need access to the trusted network where the affected device is in order to send specific packets to be processed by the device. All network devices between the attacker and the affected device must support an MTU of 1800 bytes or greater. This access requirement could limit the possibility of a successful exploit.

Record
CVE-2022-20679
CVSS 3.1
6.8 MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H
CVSS 3.1
7.7 HighCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H
CVSS 2.0
6.8 MediumAV:N/AC:L/Au:S/C:N/I:N/A:C
Weakness
CWE-20
Updated
2026-11-02

Affected products

History

History
RecordedChangedSources
aliases, publishedEUVD
first indexedCVE List, GitHub Advisories, NVD

Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.

In short

CVE-2022-20679 is a medium vulnerability (CVSS 6.8) in Cisco Ios Xe Software, published April 15, 2022. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 1.31%, the 70th percentile. No source names a fixed version.

References

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