# CVE-2020-3228: Cisco IOS, IOS XE, and NX-OS Software Security Group Tag Exchange Protocol Denial of Service Vulnerability

> Unauthenticated remote attackers can cause device reloads via crafted SXP packets, leading to denial of service on Cisco network devices.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.8 (`CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/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:** 3 Jun 2020
- **Updated:** 15 Nov 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-cp9x-q25f-c3q9

## What is CVE-2020-3228?

CVE-2020-3228 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Cisco Ios, published on 3 Jun 2020. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

A vulnerability in Security Group Tag Exchange Protocol (SXP) in Cisco IOS Software, Cisco IOS XE Software, and Cisco NX-OS Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to cause the affected device to reload, resulting in a denial of service (DoS) condition. The vulnerability exists because crafted SXP packets are mishandled. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending specifically crafted SXP packets to the affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause the affected device to reload, resulting in a DoS condition.

Weakness: CWE-20 (Improper Input Validation)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2020-3228?

It affects 3 products.


Products: Cisco Ios, Cisco Ios Xe, Cisco Nx-Os.

## How do I fix CVE-2020-3228?

No fix has been published for CVE-2020-3228 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2020-3228 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-3228 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Cisco Ios

- [CVE-2017-12240](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-12240/): Cisco IOS and IOS XE Software DHCP Remote Code Execution (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2017-3881](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-3881/): Cisco IOS and IOS XE Remote Code Execution (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2018-0167](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-0167/): Cisco IOS, XR, and XE Software Buffer Overflow (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2017-6736](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-6736/): Cisco IOS and IOS XE Software SNMP Remote Code Execution (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2017-6737](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-6737/): Cisco IOS and IOS XE Software SNMP Remote Code Execution (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2020-3228 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2020-3228 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Cisco Ios, published on 3 Jun 2020. 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-2020-3228 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Cisco Ios. 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-2020-3228/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-3228/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2020-3228
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-3228
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2020-3228

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-3228/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.