# CVE-2016-6466: Denial of service in Cisco StarOS 20.0.0 through 21.0.M0.64246

> Unauthenticated remote attackers can terminate active IPsec VPN tunnels and block new connections on Cisco ASR routers, causing a denial of service.

- **Severity:** High 7.5 (`CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 19 Nov 2016
- **Updated:** 6 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-jwp5-v2vg-6xxj

## What is CVE-2016-6466?

CVE-2016-6466 is a high-severity denial of service vulnerability in Cisco StarOS 20.0.0 through 21.0.M0.64246, published on 19 Nov 2016. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

A vulnerability in the IPsec component of StarOS for Cisco ASR 5000 Series routers could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to terminate all active IPsec VPN tunnels and prevent new tunnels from establishing, resulting in a denial of service (DoS) condition. This vulnerability affects the following Cisco products: Cisco ASR 5000/5500 Series routers, Cisco Virtualized Packet Core (VPC). More Information: CSCva13631. Known Affected Releases: 20.0.0 20.1.0 20.2.0 20.2.3 20.2.v1 21.0.0 21.0.M0.64246. Known Fixed Releases: 20.2.3 20.2.3.65026 20.2.a4.65307 20.2.v1 20.2.v1.65353 20.3.M0.65037 20.3.T0.65043 21.0.0 21.0.0.65256 21.0.M0.64595 21.0.M0.64860 21.0.M0.65140 21.0.V0.65052 21.0.V0.65150 21.0.V0.65366 21.0.VC0.64639 21.1.A0.64861 21.1.A0.65145 21.1.PP0.65270 21.1.R0.65130 21.1.R0.65135 21.1.R0.65154 21.1.VC0.64898 21.1.VC0.65203 21.2.A0.65147.

Weakness: CWE-399

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2016-6466?

It affects 2 products.


Products: Cisco Asr 5000 Series Software, Cisco Virtualized Packet Core.

## How do I fix CVE-2016-6466?

No fix has been published for CVE-2016-6466 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2016-6466 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2016-6466 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Cisco StarOS 20.0.0 through 21.0.M0.64246

- [CVE-2017-3819](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-3819/): Privilege escalation in Cisco StarOS (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2017-6612](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-6612/): Open redirect in Cisco ASR 5000 Series Aggregation Services Routers (high 8.6)
- [CVE-2017-6672](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-6672/): Security feature bypass in Cisco ASR 5000 Series Aggregation Services Routers (high 7.5)
- [CVE-2016-6467](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-6467/): Denial of service in Cisco Aggregation Services Router (ASR) 5000 Series Switch (high 7.5)
- [CVE-2016-9203](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-9203/): Denial of service in Cisco ASR 5000 (high 7.5)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2016-6466 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2016-6466 is a high-severity denial of service vulnerability in Cisco StarOS 20.0.0 through 21.0.M0.64246, published on 19 Nov 2016. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2016-6466 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Cisco StarOS 20.0.0 through 21.0.M0.64246. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-6466/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-6466/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2016-6466
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2016-6466
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2016-6466

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-6466/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.