A vulnerability in the network stack of Cisco NX-OS Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to cause a denial of service (DoS) condition on an affected device. This vulnerability exists because the software improperly releases resources when it processes certain IPv6 packets that are destined to an affected device. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending multiple crafted IPv6 packets to an affected device. A successful exploit could cause the network stack to run out of available buffers, impairing operations of control plane and management plane protocols and resulting in a DoS condition. Manual intervention would be required to restore normal operations on the affected device. For more information about the impact of this vulnerability, see the Details section of this advisory.
A vulnerability in ICMP Version 6 (ICMPv6) processing in Cisco NX-OS Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to cause a slow system memory leak, which over time could lead to a denial of service (DoS) condition. This vulnerability is due to improper error handling when an IPv6-configured interface receives a specific type of ICMPv6 packet. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a sustained rate of crafted ICMPv6 packets to a local IPv6 address on a targeted device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause a system memory leak in the ICMPv6 process on the device. As a result, the ICMPv6 process could run out of system memory and stop processing traffic. The device could then drop all ICMPv6 packets, causing traffic instability on the device. Restoring device functionality would require a device reboot.