CVE-2026-20173
Cisco NX-OS Software Denial of Service Vulnerability
A vulnerability in Cisco NX-OS Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to exhaust system resources, causing a denial of service (DoS) condition.
This vulnerability exists because rate limiting was improperly applied to some protocols. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a high rate of UDP or TCP connections to a data plane interface on an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause instability to various routing and control plane protocols through some packet loss and temporary disruptions, causing a DoS condition. This DoS condition will clear without manual intervention soon after the high rate of traffic is stopped.
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
- Low
Exploit likelihood
What each source reports
CVE List Score used
Cisco NX-OS Software Denial of Service Vulnerability
A vulnerability in Cisco NX-OS Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to exhaust system resources, causing a denial of service (DoS) condition.
This vulnerability exists because rate limiting was improperly applied to some protocols. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a high rate of UDP or TCP connections to a data plane interface on an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause instability to various routing and control plane protocols through some packet loss and temporary disruptions, causing a DoS condition. This DoS condition will clear without manual intervention soon after the high rate of traffic is stopped.
- Record
CVE-2026-20173- CVSS 3.1
- 5.8 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:L - Weakness
- CWE-770
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2026-94449
A vulnerability in Cisco NX-OS Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to exhaust system resources, causing a denial of service (DoS) condition.
This vulnerability exists because rate limiting was improperly applied to some protocols. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a high rate of UDP or TCP connections to a data plane interface on an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause instability to various routing and control plane protocols through some packet loss and temporary disruptions, causing a DoS condition. This DoS condition will clear without manual intervention soon after the high rate of traffic is stopped.
- Record
EUVD-2026-94449- CVSS 3.1
- 5.8 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:L - Updated
- 2026-11-02
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-8g9j-7mq6-rw6g
A vulnerability in Cisco NX-OS Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to...
A vulnerability in Cisco NX-OS Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to exhaust system resources, causing a denial of service (DoS) condition.
This vulnerability exists because rate limiting was improperly applied to some protocols. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a high rate of UDP or TCP connections to a data plane interface on an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause instability to various routing and control plane protocols through some packet loss and temporary disruptions, causing a DoS condition. This DoS condition will clear without manual intervention soon after the high rate of traffic is stopped.
- Record
GHSA-8g9j-7mq6-rw6g- CVSS 3.1
- 5.8 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:L - Weakness
- CWE-770
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
NVD
A vulnerability in Cisco NX-OS Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to exhaust system resources, causing a denial of service (DoS) condition.
This vulnerability exists because rate limiting was improperly applied to some protocols. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a high rate of UDP or TCP connections to a data plane interface on an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause instability to various routing and control plane protocols through some packet loss and temporary disruptions, causing a DoS condition. This DoS condition will clear without manual intervention soon after the high rate of traffic is stopped.
- Record
CVE-2026-20173- CVSS 3.1
- 5.8 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:L - Weakness
- CWE-770
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
Affected products
History
| Recorded | Changed | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| first indexed | CVE List, EUVD, GitHub Advisories, NVD |
Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.
In short
CVE-2026-20173 is a medium vulnerability (CVSS 5.8) in Cisco Nx-os Software, published October 7, 2026. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 0.37%, the 31st percentile. No source names a fixed version.