Cisco has posted a bumper crop of 12 security advisories covering flaws in its IOS software and related networking kit.

The vulnerabilities create a route for skilled hackers to crash vulnerable systems or obtain sensitive information, among other exploits. Login credentials are not needed to carry out the majority of the attacks.

No one flaw stands out from the batch, but there is a broad theme. Flaws in how Cisco's software processes particular network protocol traffic, such as MPLS or SIP, can cause devices such as VPN appliances to crash.

Altogether the patch batch should equate to "no questions asked" overtime requests from sysadmins and ISP staffers, in particular.

A full summary of the patches can be found on Cisco's website here. The vulnerabilities were addressed in the second round of Cisco's biannual IOS security roundup. The network giant adopted the six-monthly patch cycle back in March as a way of making life easier for sysadmins. ®

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