What is CVE-2017-12238?

CVE-2017-12238 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Cisco C6800-16p10g, classified under CWE-399. CVSS score: 6.5/10. Published 2017-09-29.

How severe is CVE-2017-12238?

Medium severity. CVSS v3 base score is 6.5 out of 10.

Is CVE-2017-12238 known to be exploited?

Yes. CVE-2017-12238 is listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog (added 2022-03-03), indicating it is being actively exploited. 2 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed.

Vulnerability in Cisco C6800-16p10g

CVE-2017-12238

A vulnerability in the Virtual Private LAN Service (VPLS) code of Cisco IOS 15.0 through 15.4 for Cisco Catalyst 6800 Series Switches could allow an unauthenticated, adjacent attacker to cause a C6800-16P10G or C6800-16P10G-XL type line card to crash, resulting in a denial of service (DoS) condition. The vulnerability is due to a memory management issue in the affected software. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by creating a large number of VPLS-generated MAC entries in the MAC address table of an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause a C6800-16P10G or C6800-16P10G-XL type line card to crash, resulting in a DoS condition. This vulnerability affects Cisco Catalyst 6800 Series Switches that are running a vulnerable release of Cisco IOS Software and have a Cisco C6800-16P10G or C6800-16P10G-XL line card in use with Supervisor Engine 6T. To be vulnerable, the device must also be configured with VPLS and the C6800-16P10G or C6800-16P10G-XL line card needs to be the core-facing MPLS interfaces. Cisco Bug IDs: CSCva61927.

Published 2017-09-29 · last modified 2026-06-17.

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 6.5 (Medium). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H.

EPSS exploit prediction

EPSS: 0.020 (80.6th percentile), scored 2026-10-19.

Low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, but still tracked. 81st percentile — 80.6% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.

EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.020 · newest: 0.020 · change: 0.000

Affected products

Cisco C6800-16p10g
Cisco C6800-16p10g-Xl
Cisco Catalyst 6000
Cisco Catalyst 6000 Ws-Svc-Nam-1 — versions 2.2\(1a\), 3.1\(1a\)
Cisco Catalyst 6000 Ws-Svc-Nam-2 — versions 2.2\(1a\), 3.1\(1a\)
Cisco Catalyst 6000 Ws-X6380-Nam — versions 2.1\(2\), 3.1\(1a\)
Cisco Catalyst 6500
Cisco Catalyst 6500-E
Cisco Catalyst 6500 Ws-Svc-Nam-1 — versions 2.2\(1a\), 3.1\(1a\)
Cisco Catalyst 6500 Ws-Svc-Nam-2 — versions 2.2\(1a\), 3.1\(1a\)

Weakness classification (CWE)

CWE-399

CISA KEV (Known Exploited Vulnerabilities)

This CVE is on the CISA KEV catalog, added on 2022-03-03. CISA KEV inclusion means CISA has confirmed in-the-wild exploitation; US federal agencies are required to remediate within a published due date.

BOD 22-01 due date: 2022-03-24.

Required action: Apply updates per vendor instructions.

Public proof-of-concept exploits

References

www.securitytracker.com/id/1039453 (VDB Entry, Third Party Advisory, vdb-entry, Broken Link)
www.securityfocus.com/bid/101040 (VDB Entry, Third Party Advisory, vdb-entry, Broken Link)
tools.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-20170927… (Vendor Advisory)
134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0 (US Government Resource)

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2017-12238?: CVE-2017-12238 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Cisco C6800-16p10g, classified under CWE-399. CVSS score: 6.5/10. Published 2017-09-29.
How severe is CVE-2017-12238?: Medium severity. CVSS v3 base score is 6.5 out of 10.
Is CVE-2017-12238 known to be exploited?: Yes. CVE-2017-12238 is listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog (added 2022-03-03), indicating it is being actively exploited. 2 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed.