Cisco IOS XE Software Fast Reload Vulnerabilities

Multiple vulnerabilities in the fast reload feature of Cisco IOS XE Software running on Cisco Catalyst 3650, Cisco Catalyst 3850, Cisco Catalyst 9300, and Cisco Catalyst 9300L Series Switches could allow an authenticated, local attacker to either execute arbitrary code on the underlying operating system, install and boot a malicious software image, or execute unsigned binaries on an affected device.

These vulnerabilities are due to improper checks performed by system boot routines. To exploit these vulnerabilities, the attacker would need privileged access to the CLI of the device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to either execute arbitrary code on the underlying operating system or execute unsigned code and bypass the image verification check part of the secure boot process.

For more information about these vulnerabilities, see the Details [“#details”] section of this advisory.

Cisco has released software updates that address these vulnerabilities. There are no workarounds that address these vulnerabilities.

This advisory is available at the following link:
https://sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-fast-Zqr6DD5 [“https://sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-fast-Zqr6DD5”]

This advisory is part of the March 2021 release of the Cisco IOS and IOS XE Software Security Advisory Bundled Publication. For a complete list of the advisories and links to them, see Cisco Event Response: March 2021 Semiannual Cisco IOS and IOS XE Software Security Advisory Bundled Publication [“https://sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/viewErp.x?alertId=ERP-74408”].