CVE-2017-3881
A vulnerability in the Cisco Cluster Management Protocol (CMP) processing code in Cisco IOS and Cisco IOS XE Software could allow an…
- 9.8CriticalCVSS base score
- 99.0%Exploitation in 30 daysEPSS · top 0.1% of all CVEs
- YesKnown exploitedin CISA's KEV since 25 Mar 2022
- 4Public exploitsMetasploit, Nuclei and Exploit-DB
Description
A vulnerability in the Cisco Cluster Management Protocol (CMP) processing code in Cisco IOS and Cisco IOS XE Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to cause a reload of an affected device or remotely execute code with elevated privileges. The Cluster Management Protocol utilizes Telnet internally as a signaling and command protocol between cluster members. The vulnerability is due to the combination of two factors: (1) the failure to restrict the use of CMP-specific Telnet options only to internal, local communications between cluster members and instead accept and process such options over any Telnet connection to an affected device; and (2) the incorrect processing of malformed CMP-specific Telnet options. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending malformed CMP-specific Telnet options while establishing a Telnet session with an affected Cisco device configured to accept Telnet connections. An exploit could allow an attacker to execute arbitrary code and obtain full control of the device or cause a reload of the affected device. This affects Catalyst switches, Embedded Service 2020 switches, Enhanced Layer 2 EtherSwitch Service Module, Enhanced Layer 2/3 EtherSwitch Service Module, Gigabit Ethernet Switch Module (CGESM) for HP, IE Industrial Ethernet switches, ME 4924-10GE switch, RF Gateway 10, and SM-X Layer 2/3 EtherSwitch Service Module. Cisco Bug IDs: CSCvd48893.
Exploited in the wild
CISA lists this vulnerability in its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog as Cisco IOS and IOS XE Remote Code Execution Vulnerability.
- Added
- 25 Mar 2022
- Fix due (US federal)
- 15 Apr 2022
- Used by ransomware
- Not known
Apply updates per vendor instructions.
ENISA's EU Vulnerability Database lists it as exploited, from CISA's KEV, since 25 Mar 2022.
Public exploit
An exploit or proof of concept is public: anyone can try it against an unpatched system. The public collections list a Metasploit module, a Nuclei template and 2 Exploit-DB entries for it. 2 references of the record are tagged as an exploit. CISA's SSVC rates its exploitation: it is being exploited.
Show the exploits6
Metasploit modules1 module
- Cisco IOS Telnet Denial of Service (Metasploit module) (opens in a new tab)
auxiliary/dos/cisco/ios_telnet_rocemRank normaldisclosed 17 Mar 2017
Nuclei templates1 template
- Cisco IOS 12.2(55)SE11 - Remote Code Execution (Nuclei template) (opens in a new tab)
network/cves/2017/CVE-2017-3881.yamlSeverity critical
Exploit-DB2 entries
- Cisco Catalyst 2960 IOS 12.2(55)SE11 - 'ROCEM' Remote Code Execution (Exploit-DB entry) (opens in a new tab)
EDB-ID 41872remote, hardwarepublished 12 Apr 2017Not verified
- Cisco Catalyst 2960 IOS 12.2(55)SE1 - 'ROCEM' Remote Code Execution (Exploit-DB entry) (opens in a new tab)
EDB-ID 42122remote, hardwarepublished 12 Apr 2017Not verified
References tagged exploit2 references
- 41872 (opens in a new tab)exploitx_refsource_EXPLOIT-DBx_transferred
- 41874 (opens in a new tab)exploitx_refsource_EXPLOIT-DBx_transferred
Modules, templates and exploits as listed by the Metasploit Framework (BSD-3-Clause), ProjectDiscovery's Nuclei templates (MIT) and the Exploit Database (GPLv2), read once a day. Where the data comes from
Timeline
ID reserved
By cisco
- 3 months later
· 3 months later
Published
- 5 years later
· 5 years later
Added to CISA KEV
Known exploited in the wild
- 4 years later
· 4 years later
Record updated
Changes after publication (a new score, a public exploit, EPSS crossing 1, 10 or 50 %, leaving KEV) are kept since November 2026; earlier ones are not known.
Scores
| Scored by | CVSS | Score | Vector |
|---|---|---|---|
| CISA-ADPADP (enrichment) | 3.1 | Critical9.8 | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H |
| NVDNVD · Analyzed | 3.1 | Critical9.8 | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H |
- EPSS (exploitation in 30 days)
- 99.0% · top 0.1% of all CVEs (10 Nov 2026)
- CISA SSVC
- Exploitation: active · Automatable: yes · Technical impact: total
The list uses the assigner's score when there is one, then CISA's, then NVD's: Critical 9.8.
Affected products
Cisco IOS and IOS XE Software
- affected Cisco IOS and IOS XE Software
References
7
- 41872 (opens in a new tab)exploitx_refsource_EXPLOIT-DBx_transferred
- 41874 (opens in a new tab)exploitx_refsource_EXPLOIT-DBx_transferred
- 97391 (opens in a new tab)vdb-entryx_refsource_BIDx_transferred
- 96960 (opens in a new tab)vdb-entryx_refsource_BIDx_transferred
- https://tools.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-20170317-cmp (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_CONFIRMx_transferred
- 1038059 (opens in a new tab)vdb-entryx_refsource_SECTRACKx_transferred
- https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2017-3881 (opens in a new tab)government-resource
Sources
The same CVE in the primary databases and aggregators, to check against.
- CVE.org record (opens in a new tab)
- CVE List JSON (GitHub) (opens in a new tab)
- NVD (opens in a new tab)
- CISA KEV catalog (opens in a new tab)
- FIRST EPSS (opens in a new tab)
- EUVD EUVD-2017-12998 (opens in a new tab)
- OSV.dev (opens in a new tab)
- GitHub Advisories (opens in a new tab)
- CIRCL Vulnerability-Lookup (opens in a new tab)
Badge for a README or a ticket
[](https://cveledger.app/cve/CVE-2017-3881)Record last updated .