Cisco Smart Install Remote Code Execution
CVE-2018-0171 is a vulnerability in the Smart Install feature of Cisco IOS Software and Cisco IOS XE Software. The flaw is caused by improper validation of packet data in Smart Install message handling, allowing a crafted Smart Install message sent to TCP port 4786 to trigger a buffer overflow on an affected device. Cisco states that successful exploitation by an unauthenticated remote attacker can cause a device reload, force the device into an indefinite loop that results in a watchdog crash, or enable arbitrary code execution on the device. The issue affects devices with Smart Install exposed and has been widely referenced as a Cisco Smart Install RCE vulnerability.
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Impact, mitigation & remediation
What it means. What to do now. Patch path, mitigations, and the assume-compromise checklist.
Impact
What an attacker gets, and what they’ve been doing with it.
Mitigation
If you can’t patch tonight, do this now.
Remediation
Patch, then assume compromise.
Exploits
1 valid exploit after Mallory filtered fakes, detection scripts, and README-only repos (1 hidden).
This repository provides a Python 3 exploit script (cisco-se.py) targeting Cisco devices vulnerable to CVE-2018-0171 (SmartInstall Remote Code Execution/Config Extraction). The script connects to the target device on TCP port 4786, sends crafted payloads to exploit the SmartInstall protocol, and then uses TFTP (port 69) to download the device's 'startup-config' file. After downloading, it parses the configuration to extract and decrypt secret 7 password hashes (using the external 'c7decrypt' tool), plaintext passwords, and SNMP community strings. The script supports targeting a single IP, a list of IPs, or analyzing a standalone configuration file. The repository includes a README with usage instructions and a requirements.txt specifying the tftpy library. The exploit is operational, providing real extraction and parsing of sensitive configuration data from vulnerable Cisco devices.
Affected products & vendors
Products and vendors Mallory has correlated with this vulnerability. Open in Mallory to drill down to specific CPE configurations and version ranges.
Vendor-confirmed product mapping. Mallory continuously reconciles this list against your asset inventory.
Recent activity
72 sources tracked across advisories, community write-ups, and news. New activity surfaces here as Mallory finds it.
A remote code execution vulnerability in the Smart Install feature of Cisco IOS and Cisco IOS XE software that can also cause denial of service by forcing affected devices to restart.
A remote code execution vulnerability in Cisco Smart Install that can provide initial access to network devices, after which attackers may create privileged Cisco IOS accounts for persistence.
A remote code execution vulnerability in Cisco Smart Install referenced as an associated analytic story in the detection content.
A remote code execution vulnerability in Cisco Smart Install referenced as the associated analytic story for this detection content.
The version that knows your environment.
Query your assets running an affected version, and investigate the blast radius.
Every observed campaign linking this CVE to a named adversary.
Malware families riding this exploit, with evidence and IOCs.
YARA, Sigma, Snort, and vendor rules, auto-deployed to your SIEM.
Cross-references every affected SKU, including bundled OEM variants.
Community discussion across Reddit, Mastodon, and other social sources.