The vulnerability affects the OSPF routing protocol implementation on Cisco networking equipment Cisco Systems said attackers could disrupt or intercept traffic in many of its networking products unless a new security update is applied to the software they run.The issue affects the implementation of the Open Shortest Path First (OSPF) routing protocol and its Link State Advertisement (LSA) database in particular. This protocol is used for determining the shortest routing paths inside an Autonomous System (AS) — a collection of routing policies for IP (Internet Protocol) addresses controlled by ISPs and large organizations.[Cisco confirms undocumented backdoor]The OSPF protocol is commonly used on large enterprise networks. It gathers link state information from available routers into a database in order to built a network topology map which is then used to determine the best route for IP traffic. “This vulnerability could allow an unauthenticated attacker to take full control of the OSPF Autonomous System (AS) domain routing table, blackhole traffic, and intercept traffic,” Cisco said in a security advisory.Exploiting the vulnerability doesn’t require authentication and can be achieved remotely by sending specifically crafted OSPF LSA type 1 packets via unicast or multicast to the vulnerable device. The packets could contain false routes that would then get propagated throughout the entire OSPF AS domain. However, the attacker does need to determine some information in advance in order to launch a successful attack, Cisco said. This information includes the network placement and IP address of the targeted router, the LSA database sequence numbers and the router ID of the OSPF Designated Router (DR).The vulnerability affects networking devices running most versions of Cisco IOS, IOS-XE and NX-OS operating systems if they are configured for OSPF operations. It also affects the software running on the Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA), Cisco ASA Service Module (ASA-SM), Cisco Pix Firewall, Cisco Firewall Services Module (FWSM) and the Cisco ASR 5000 carrier class platform.[Cisco fixes remote access vulnerabilities in Cisco Secure Access Control System]The Cisco advisory contains a table with the vulnerable software releases and the updates available for them, if any. Instructions for enabling OSPF authentication, which can mitigate the vulnerability, are described in a separate technical document. Related content news analysis DHS unveils one common platform for reporting cyber incidents Ahead of CISA cyber incident reporting regulations, DHS issued a report on harmonizing 52 cyber incident reporting requirements, presenting a model common reporting platform that could encompass them all. By Cynthia Brumfield Sep 25, 2023 10 mins Regulation Regulation Regulation news Chinese state actors behind espionage attacks on Southeast Asian government The distinct groups of activities formed three different clusters, each attributed to a specific APT group. By Shweta Sharma Sep 25, 2023 4 mins Advanced Persistent Threats Cyberattacks feature How to pick the best endpoint detection and response solution EDR software has emerged as one of the preeminent tools in the CISO’s arsenal. Here’s what to look for and what to avoid when choosing EDR software. By Linda Rosencrance Sep 25, 2023 10 mins Intrusion Detection Software Security Monitoring Software Data and Information Security feature Top cybersecurity M&A deals for 2023 Fears of recession, rising interest rates, mass tech layoffs, and conservative spending trends are likely to make dealmakers cautious, but an ever-increasing need to defend against bigger and faster attacks will likely keep M&A activity steady in By CSO Staff Sep 22, 2023 24 mins Mergers and Acquisitions Data and Information Security IT Leadership Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe