CVE-2021-1440

MEDIUM
Published Nov 18, 2024 Modified Aug 1, 2025 CWE-617

Description

A vulnerability in the implementation of the Resource Public Key Infrastructure (RPKI) feature of Cisco IOS XR Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to cause the Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) process to crash, resulting in a denial of service (DoS) condition. This vulnerability is due to the incorrect handling of a specific RPKI to Router (RTR) Protocol packet header. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by compromising the RPKI validator server and sending a specifically crafted RTR packet to an affected device. Alternatively, the attacker could use man-in-the-middle techniques to impersonate the RPKI validator server and send a specifically crafted RTR response packet over the established RTR TCP connection to the affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause a DoS condition because the BGP process could constantly restart and BGP routing could become unstable.Cisco has released software updates that address this vulnerability. There are no workarounds that address this vulnerability.This advisory is part of the September 2021 release of the Cisco IOS XR Software Security Advisory Bundled Publication. For a complete list of the advisories and links to them, see .

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CVSS v3.1 Score

6.8
MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H

Weakness Type (CWE)

CWE-617 CWE-617

Affected Products

Vendor Product
cisco ios_xr

References

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2021-1440? +
A vulnerability in the implementation of the Resource Public Key Infrastructure (RPKI) feature of Cisco IOS XR Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to cause the Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) process to crash, resulting in a denial of service (DoS) condition. This vulnerability is due to the incorrect handling of a specific RPKI to Router (RTR) Protocol packet header. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by compromising the RPKI validator server and sending a specifically crafted RTR packet to an affected device. Alternatively, the attacker could use man-in-the-middle techniques to impersonate the RPKI validator server and send a specifically crafted RTR response packet over the established RTR TCP connection to the affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause a DoS condition because the BGP process could constantly restart and BGP routing could become unstable.Cisco has released software updates that address this vulnerability. There are no workarounds that address this vulnerability.This advisory is part of the September 2021 release of the Cisco IOS XR Software Security Advisory Bundled Publication. For a complete list of the advisories and links to them, see . It has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 6.8 (MEDIUM).
How severe is CVE-2021-1440? +
CVE-2021-1440 has a CVSS v3.1 score of 6.8 out of 10, rated MEDIUM. This is a medium-severity vulnerability that should be remediated as part of regular maintenance.
What products are affected by CVE-2021-1440? +
CVE-2021-1440 affects products from cisco, specifically: ios_xr. Check the affected products table above for specific version ranges.
How do I check if I'm vulnerable to CVE-2021-1440? +
You can use Secably's free Website Scanner to check your website for known vulnerabilities. For infrastructure scanning, use the Port Scanner to identify exposed services that may be affected. Check the vendor advisories linked above for specific patch and version information.

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