CVE-2020-3566Cisco IOS XR Software DVMRP Memory Exhaustion Vulnerability
- 8.6HighCVSS base score
- 3.7%Exploitation in 30 daysEPSS · top 10% of all CVEs
- YesKnown exploitedin CISA's KEV since 3 Nov 2021
- YesPublic exploitsa reference or SSVC says so
Description
A vulnerability in the Distance Vector Multicast Routing Protocol (DVMRP) feature of Cisco IOS XR Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to exhaust process memory of an affected device. The vulnerability is due to insufficient queue management for Internet Group Management Protocol (IGMP) packets. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending crafted IGMP traffic to an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause memory exhaustion, resulting in instability of other processes. These processes may include, but are not limited to, interior and exterior routing protocols. Cisco will release software updates that address this vulnerability.
Exploited in the wild
CISA lists this vulnerability in its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog as Cisco IOS XR Software DVMRP Memory Exhaustion Vulnerability.
- Added
- 3 Nov 2021
- Fix due (US federal)
- 3 May 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 3 Nov 2021.
Public exploit
An exploit or proof of concept is public: anyone can try it against an unpatched system. CISA's SSVC rates its exploitation: it is being exploited.
Timeline
ID reserved
By cisco
- 9 months later
· 9 months later
Published
- 14 months later
· 14 months 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| ciscoCNA (assigner) | 3.1 | High8.6 | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H |
| NVDNVD · Analyzed | 3.1 | High8.6 | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H |
- EPSS (exploitation in 30 days)
- 3.7% · top 10% of all CVEs (14 Nov 2026)
- CISA SSVC
- Exploitation: active · Automatable: yes · Technical impact: partial
The list uses the assigner's score when there is one, then CISA's, then NVD's: High 8.6.
Affected products
- affected n/a
What to do
Exploitation: On August 28, 2020, the Cisco Product Security Incident Response Team (PSIRT) became aware of attempted exploitation of this vulnerability in the wild. For affected products, Cisco recommends implementing a mitigation that is appropriate for the customer’s environment.
References
References2
- 20200829 Cisco IOS XR Software DVMRP Memory Exhaustion Vulnerability (opens in a new tab)vendor-advisoryx_refsource_CISCOx_transferred
- https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2020-3566 (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-2020-24837 (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-2020-3566)Record last updated .