Crackers exploit Cisco LAN switch flaw
Source: NewsNow
Cisco has warned users of a potential denial of service risk involving its popular Catalyst LAN switches.
A buffer overflow vulnerability in Telnet option handling can be used to crash the process and force a Catalyst switch to reload. This operation could be repeated by an attacker to produce a denial of service attack.
Cisco Catalyst switches, series 4000, 5000 and 6000 and also 2948G and 2900 models, running CatOS are affected by the flaw, which Cisco warns has already been exploited. Other Cisco LAN switches and routers are immune.
The networking giant is offering free software upgrades to affected by the flaw and published a schedule for the availability of fixed releases, which shows fixes will be available by February 4.
Cisco is advising users to upgrade software on affected switches as soon as is becomes available. In the meantime, workarounds to prevent attacks, such as using SSH instead of Telnet, or applying access control lists (ACLs) on routers and firewalls in front of vulnerable boxes, can be applied.
