CVE-2018-0369
A vulnerability in the reassembly logic for fragmented IPv4 packets of Cisco StarOS running on virtual platforms could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to trigger a reload of the npusim process, resulting in a denial of service (DoS) condition. There are four instances of the npusim process running per Service Function (SF) instance, each handling a subset of all traffic flowing across the device. It is possible to trigger a reload of all four instances of the npusim process around the same time. The vulnerability is due to improper handling of fragmented IPv4 packets containing options. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a malicious IPv4 packet across an affected device. An exploit could allow the attacker to trigger a restart of the npusim process, which will result in all traffic queued toward this instance of the npusim process to be dropped while the process is restarting. The npusim process typically restarts within less than a second. This vulnerability affects: Cisco Virtualized Packet Core-Single Instance (VPC-SI), Cisco Virtualized Packet Core-Distributed Instance (VPC-DI), Cisco Ultra Packet Core (UPC). Cisco Bug IDs: CSCvh29613.
| Software | From | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
| cisco / staros | 21.3 | 21.3.15 |
| cisco / staros | 21.4 | 21.5.7 |
| cisco / staros | 21.6 | 21.6.4 |
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Frequently Asked Questions
A security vulnerability is a weakness in software, hardware, or configuration that can be exploited to compromise confidentiality, integrity, or availability. Many vulnerabilities are tracked as CVEs (Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures), which provide a standardized identifier so teams can coordinate patching, mitigation, and risk assessment across tools and vendors.
CVSS (Common Vulnerability Scoring System) estimates technical severity, but it doesn't automatically equal business risk. Prioritize using context like internet exposure, affected asset criticality, known exploitation (proof-of-concept or in-the-wild), and whether compensating controls exist. A "Medium" CVSS on an exposed, production system can be more urgent than a "Critical" on an isolated, non-production host.
A vulnerability is the underlying weakness. An exploit is the method or code used to take advantage of it. A zero-day is a vulnerability that is unknown to the vendor or has no publicly available fix when attackers begin using it. In practice, risk increases sharply when exploitation becomes reliable or widespread.
Recurring findings usually come from incomplete Asset Discovery, inconsistent patch management, inherited images, and configuration drift. In modern environments, you also need to watch the software supply chain: dependencies, containers, build pipelines, and third-party services can reintroduce the same weakness even after you patch a single host. Unknown or unmanaged assets (often called Shadow IT) are a common reason the same issues resurface.
Use a simple, repeatable triage model: focus first on externally exposed assets, high-value systems (identity, VPN, email, production), vulnerabilities with known exploits, and issues that enable remote code execution or privilege escalation. Then enforce patch SLAs and track progress using consistent metrics so remediation is steady, not reactive.
SynScan combines attack surface monitoring and continuous security auditing to keep your inventory current, flag high-impact vulnerabilities early, and help you turn raw findings into a practical remediation plan.