Vulnerabilities > CVE-2021-34779 - Classic Buffer Overflow vulnerability in Cisco products

047910
CVSS 8.8 - HIGH
Attack vector
ADJACENT_NETWORK
Attack complexity
LOW
Privileges required
NONE
Confidentiality impact
HIGH
Integrity impact
HIGH
Availability impact
HIGH
low complexity
cisco
CWE-120

Summary

Multiple vulnerabilities exist in the Link Layer Discovery Protocol (LLDP) implementation for Cisco Small Business 220 Series Smart Switches. An unauthenticated, adjacent attacker could perform the following: Execute code on the affected device or cause it to reload unexpectedly Cause LLDP database corruption on the affected device For more information about these vulnerabilities, see the Details section of this advisory. Note: LLDP is a Layer 2 protocol. To exploit these vulnerabilities, an attacker must be in the same broadcast domain as the affected device (Layer 2 adjacent). Cisco has released firmware updates that address these vulnerabilities.

Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification (CAPEC)

  • Buffer Overflow via Environment Variables
    This attack pattern involves causing a buffer overflow through manipulation of environment variables. Once the attacker finds that they can modify an environment variable, they may try to overflow associated buffers. This attack leverages implicit trust often placed in environment variables.
  • Overflow Buffers
    Buffer Overflow attacks target improper or missing bounds checking on buffer operations, typically triggered by input injected by an attacker. As a consequence, an attacker is able to write past the boundaries of allocated buffer regions in memory, causing a program crash or potentially redirection of execution as per the attackers' choice.
  • Client-side Injection-induced Buffer Overflow
    This type of attack exploits a buffer overflow vulnerability in targeted client software through injection of malicious content from a custom-built hostile service.
  • Filter Failure through Buffer Overflow
    In this attack, the idea is to cause an active filter to fail by causing an oversized transaction. An attacker may try to feed overly long input strings to the program in an attempt to overwhelm the filter (by causing a buffer overflow) and hoping that the filter does not fail securely (i.e. the user input is let into the system unfiltered).
  • MIME Conversion
    An attacker exploits a weakness in the MIME conversion routine to cause a buffer overflow and gain control over the mail server machine. The MIME system is designed to allow various different information formats to be interpreted and sent via e-mail. Attack points exist when data are converted to MIME compatible format and back.