A flaw in the SNMP subsystem of Cisco IOS XE Software allows an authenticated attacker to send a malformed SNMP request that triggers an improper error handling path, causing the device to reload unexpectedly and resulting in a denial of service. The vulnerability is tied to improper error handling when parsing SNMP requests, which falls under CWE‑772. A successful exploit would disrupt network operations by making the device unavailable until it recovers from the reload, but it does not provide privilege escalation or unauthorized data disclosure on its own.

All Cisco IOS XE devices that run any SNMP version—1, 2c, or 3—are affected. The flaw applies to any version of the SNMP service regardless of the specific IOS XE internal version, so all devices using SNMP should be considered vulnerable.

The CVSS score of 7.7 indicates a high severity impact, and while EPSS information is not available, the lack of a KEV listing does not imply reduced risk. However, the attacker must already have SNMP credentials or read‑only community strings, meaning the risk is higher for devices exposed to untrusted networks. The attack can be executed over standard SNMP ports from any remote host with valid credentials, making the window of opportunity wide if SNMP access is not tightly controlled.