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NVD / CVE Program· CNA cisco

CVE-2016-6473: A vulnerability in Cisco IOS on Catalyst Switches and Nexus 9300 Series Switches could allow an unauthenticated, adjacent attacker to cause…

MediumCVSS 6.5 · v3.0—No exploit No fix recorded

Noroxi assessment

Priority: Monitor (action score 26/100)

  • The sources we track (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, Metasploit, Nuclei, GitHub) show no public exploit code or exploitation in the wild.
  • Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days: 0.64% (FIRST EPSS); higher than 51.3% of all records.
  • Someone on the same network segment can trigger it. No account or password is required. No user action is required. No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.
  • According to the record, no fixed version is available yet.

Low priority for now. Update when a fix is released; follow the vendor's advisory.

Generated automatically from the record's data: CVSS (NVD and CNA), CISA KEV and SSVC, FIRST EPSS, exploit sources, fixed versions. How we calculate it

Primary sources: NVD · CVE.org · FIRST EPSS

A vulnerability in Cisco IOS on Catalyst Switches and Nexus 9300 Series Switches could allow an unauthenticated, adjacent attacker to cause a Layer 2 network storm. More Information: CSCuu69332, CSCux07028. Known Affected Releases: 15.2(3)E. Known Fixed Releases: 12.2(50)SE4 12.2(50)SE5 12.2(50)SQ5 12.2(50)SQ6 12.2(50)SQ7 12.2(52)EY4 12.2(52)SE1 12.2(53)EX 12.2(53)SE 12.2(53)SE1 12.2(53)SE2 12.2(53)SG10 12.2(53)SG11 12.2(53)SG2 12.2(53)SG9 12.2(54)SG1 12.2(55)EX3 12.2(55)SE 12.2(55)SE1 12.2(55)SE10 12.2(55)SE2 12.2(55)SE3 12.2(55)SE4 12.2(55)SE5 12.2(55)SE6 12.2(55)SE7 12.2(55)SE8 12.2(55)SE9 12.2(58)EZ 12.2(58)SE1 12.2(58)SE2 12.2(60)EZ 12.2(60)EZ1 12.2(60)EZ2 12.2(60)EZ3 12.2(60)EZ4 12.2(60)EZ5 12.2(60)EZ6 12.2(60)EZ7 12.2(60)EZ8 15.0(1)EY2 15.0(1)SE 15.0(1)SE2 15.0(1)SE3 15.0(2)EA 15.0(2)EB 15.0(2)EC 15.0(2)ED 15.0(2)EH 15.0(2)EJ 15.0(2)EJ1 15.0(2)EK1 15.0(2)EX 15.0(2)EX1 15.0(2)EX3 15.0(2)EX4 15.0(2)EX5 15.0(2)EY 15.0(2)EY1 15.0(2)EY2 15.0(2)EZ 15.0(2)SE 15.0(2)SE1 15.0(2)SE2 15.0(2)SE3 15.0(2)SE4 15.0(2)SE5 15.0(2)SE6 15.0(2)SE7 15.0(2)SE9 15.0(2)SG10 15.0(2)SG3 15.0(2)SG6 15.0(2)SG7 15.0(2)SG8 15.0(2)SG9 15.0(2a)EX5 15.1(2)SG 15.1(2)SG1 15.1(2)SG2 15.1(2)SG3 15.1(2)SG4 15.1(2)SG5 15.1(2)SG6 15.2(1)E 15.2(1)E1 15.2(1)E2 15.2(1)E3 15.2(1)EY 15.2(2)E 15.2(2)E3 15.2(2b)E.

Published
Dec 13, 2016
Updated
Jun 16, 2026
EPSS
0.6% · 51th percentile

Report tools

JSON

Action score

26

Monitor

Low priority for now.

CVSS
26 / 40 · 6.5 / 10
CISA KEV
0 / 30 · Not listed
EPSS
0 / 30 · 0.6%

Get told when this record changes

  • Not in KEV: no record of exploitation in the wild
  • No public exploit code on record
  • No fixed version yet

If any of these changes, we'll tell you in the daily email digest.

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When you'll hear from us

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  • when exploit code appears or is weaponized
  • when the record is updated (including a fixed version)
  • when EPSS rises 20 points in a week

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Noroxi analysis

What does it mean in your environment?

The assessment above is generated automatically from the record's data; it doesn't know your environment. Our team verifies on your systems whether this vulnerability is actually exploitable and which mitigation is enough.

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Affected systems

Is your version affected?

Pick the product and type the version you run. It's compared with this record's version ranges in your browser; the version isn't sent anywhere.

VendorProduct
ciscoios

Versions reported by the vendor

Affected version ranges reported by the assigning authority (cisco). Independent of NVD's CPE analysis and usually ahead of it.

  • n/a Cisco IOS

    • Cisco IOSaffected
Affected versions · NVD (7)

NVD version ranges (for catalog products). Add the product to your stack with a version and matching uses these.

  • cisco ios15.0(2)se8
  • cisco ios15.2(2)e1
  • cisco ios15.2(2)e2
  • cisco ios15.2(2a)e1
  • cisco ios15.2(3)e
  • cisco ios15.2(3)e1
  • cisco ios15.2(3a)e

Same product

cisco: all records

Other highest-scoring records for the same primary product.

  • CVE-2018-0171A vulnerability in the Smart Install feature of Cisco IOS Software and Cisco IOS XE Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote…KEV
    99Now
  • CVE-2017-3881A vulnerability in the Cisco Cluster Management Protocol (CMP) processing code in Cisco IOS and Cisco IOS XE Software could allow an…KEV
    99Now
  • CVE-2017-6736The Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) subsystem of Cisco IOS and IOS XE Software contains multiple vulnerabilities that could allow…KEV
    86Now

Published before and after this one in the same product

  • ← EarlierCVE-2016-6423Oct 5, 2016 · The IKEv2 client and initiator implementations in Cisco IOS 15.5(3)M and IOS XE allow remote IKEv2 servers to cause a denial of service…
    26Monitor
  • ← EarlierCVE-2016-6422Oct 6, 2016 · Cisco IOS 12.2(33)SXJ9 on Supervisor Engine 32 and 720 modules for 6500 and 7600 devices mishandles certain operators, flags, and keywords…
    30Monitor
  • Later →CVE-2016-6474Dec 13, 2016 · A vulnerability in the implementation of X.509 Version 3 for SSH authentication functionality in Cisco IOS and IOS XE Software could allow…
    29Monitor

Remediation

Which version to upgrade to

Fix versions compiled from the vendor, package registries and Microsoft. Verify the vendor's note before upgrading.

No fix version is recorded for this entry. Check the references for vendor advisories.

Exploit status

No known public exploit

No public exploit has been observed yet. That doesn't mean you're safe, only that the bar is a little higher.

Research context

For pentesters and researchers: attack profile, score disagreement, timeline, patch commits, credits, variant and chain candidates, bug bounty scope. All derived from existing data; no exploit code.

Timeline

From publication to today: proof of concept, Metasploit module, CISA KEV and fix record. Dates are as reported by the sources.

No dated events beyond publication.

Not on record for this CVE: EPSS history · patch commit or PR link · researcher credit · variant or chain candidate · public bounty program.

Technical details

Attack conditions

  • Someone on the same network segment can trigger it.
  • No account or password is required.
  • No user action is required.
  • No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.

If successful

Confidentiality
none
Integrity
none
Availability
high · the service can be disrupted
Attack vector
Adjacent
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality impact
None
Integrity impact
None
Availability impact
High

Weakness class (CWE)

CWE-74 · Improper Neutralization of Special Elements in Output Used by a Downstream Component ('Injection')

CVSS vector

CVSS:3.0/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

nvd-primary

Attack context

MITRE CAPEC attack patterns and ATT&CK techniques for this weakness class (CWE). A starting point for detection rules and threat hunting.

References

Show all references (1 more)

Vendor advisories and official records. Exploit/PoC links are deliberately left out.

All records