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CVE-2023-20169

A vulnerability in the Intermediate System-to-Intermediate System (IS-IS) protocol of Cisco NX-OS...

7.4 High

A vulnerability in the Intermediate System-to-Intermediate System (IS-IS) protocol of Cisco NX-OS Software for the Cisco Nexus 3000 Series Switches and Cisco Nexus 9000 Series Switches in standalone NX-OS mode could allow an unauthenticated, adjacent attacker to cause the IS-IS process to unexpectedly restart, which could cause an affected device to reload. This vulnerability is due to insufficient input validation when parsing an ingress IS-IS packet. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a crafted IS-IS packet to an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause a denial of service (DoS) condition due to the unexpected restart of the IS-IS process, which could cause the affected device to reload. Note: The IS-IS protocol is a routing protocol. To exploit this vulnerability, an attacker must be Layer 2 adjacent to the affected device.

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

0.33%Up 0.3 points since Aug 24, 2023
90%50%10%1%

What each source reports

CVE List Score used 7.4

A vulnerability in the Intermediate System-to-Intermediate System (IS-IS) protocol of Cisco NX-OS Software for the Cisco Nexus 3000 Series Switches and Cisco Nexus 9000 Series Switches in standalone NX-OS mode could allow an unauthenticated, adjacent attacker to cause the IS-IS process to unexpectedly restart, which could cause an affected device to reload. This vulnerability is due to insufficient input validation when parsing an ingress IS-IS packet. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a crafted IS-IS packet to an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause a denial of service (DoS) condition due to the unexpected restart of the IS-IS process, which could cause the affected device to reload. Note: The IS-IS protocol is a routing protocol. To exploit this vulnerability, an attacker must be Layer 2 adjacent to the affected device.

Record
CVE-2023-20169
CVSS 3.1
7.4 HighCVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H
Weakness
CWE-788
Updated
2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2023-24348 7.4

A vulnerability in the Intermediate System-to-Intermediate System (IS-IS) protocol of Cisco NX-OS Software for the Cisco Nexus 3000 Series Switches and Cisco Nexus 9000 Series Switches in standalone NX-OS mode could allow an unauthenticated, adjacent attacker to cause the IS-IS process to unexpectedly restart, which could cause an affected device to reload. This vulnerability is due to insufficient input validation when parsing an ingress IS-IS packet. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a crafted IS-IS packet to an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause a denial of service (DoS) condition due to the unexpected restart of the IS-IS process, which could cause the affected device to reload. Note: The IS-IS protocol is a routing protocol. To exploit this vulnerability, an attacker must be Layer 2 adjacent to the affected device.

Record
EUVD-2023-24348
CVSS 3.1
7.4 HighCVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H
Updated
2026-11-03
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-rjhj-97m9-mffq 7.4

A vulnerability in the Intermediate System-to-Intermediate System (IS-IS) protocol of Cisco NX-OS...

A vulnerability in the Intermediate System-to-Intermediate System (IS-IS) protocol of Cisco NX-OS Software for the Cisco Nexus 3000 Series Switches and Cisco Nexus 9000 Series Switches in standalone NX-OS mode could allow an unauthenticated, adjacent attacker to cause the IS-IS process to unexpectedly restart, which could cause an affected device to reload.

This vulnerability is due to insufficient input validation when parsing an ingress IS-IS packet. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a crafted IS-IS packet to an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause a denial of service (DoS) condition due to the unexpected restart of the IS-IS process, which could cause the affected device to reload. Note: The IS-IS protocol is a routing protocol. To exploit this vulnerability, an attacker must be Layer 2 adjacent to the affected device.

Record
GHSA-rjhj-97m9-mffq
CVSS 3.1
7.4 HighCVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H
Weakness
CWE-20, CWE-788
Updated
2026-11-02
NVD 7.4

A vulnerability in the Intermediate System-to-Intermediate System (IS-IS) protocol of Cisco NX-OS Software for the Cisco Nexus 3000 Series Switches and Cisco Nexus 9000 Series Switches in standalone NX-OS mode could allow an unauthenticated, adjacent attacker to cause the IS-IS process to unexpectedly restart, which could cause an affected device to reload. This vulnerability is due to insufficient input validation when parsing an ingress IS-IS packet. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a crafted IS-IS packet to an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause a denial of service (DoS) condition due to the unexpected restart of the IS-IS process, which could cause the affected device to reload. Note: The IS-IS protocol is a routing protocol. To exploit this vulnerability, an attacker must be Layer 2 adjacent to the affected device.

Record
CVE-2023-20169
CVSS 3.1
7.4 HighCVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H
Weakness
CWE-788, 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-2023-20169 is a high vulnerability (CVSS 7.4) in Cisco Nx-os Software, published August 23, 2023. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 0.33%, the 25th percentile. No source names a fixed version.

References

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