CVE-2006-0376
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedThe 802.11 wireless client in certain operating systems including Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003 does not warn the user when (1) it establishes an association with a station in ad hoc (aka peer-to-peer) mode or (2) a station in ad hoc mode establishes an association with it, which allows remote attackers to put unexpected wireless communication into place.
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · high confidenceThe 802.11 wireless client in Windows 2000, XP, and Server 2003 fails to warn users when establishing or receiving associations with ad hoc (peer-to-peer) mode stations. This silent acceptance of ad hoc connections allows remote attackers to establish rogue wireless communications without user knowledge, enabling potential man-in-the-middle attacks.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE dataall versions= r2all versionsCVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Authentication
- None
- Confidentiality
- Partial
- Integrity
- Partial
- Availability
- Partial
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify the Windows versionRun 'winver' or check System Properties to confirm the exact Windows version and build numberAffected if The system is Windows 2000 (any version), Windows XP (any version), or Windows Server 2003 R2
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Check if wireless adapter is presentOpen Device Manager and look under Network Adapters, or run 'netsh wlan show interfaces' to list wireless interfacesAffected if A wireless network adapter is installed and enabled
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Verify wireless mode configurationAccess wireless adapter properties in Network Connections or use 'netsh wlan show networks mode=bssid' to view available wireless networks and their mode (ad hoc vs infrastructure)Affected if The adapter is configured to connect to ad hoc networks or has connected to an ad hoc network previously
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Check for ad hoc connection warningsReview wireless connection settings in the adapter properties or Group Policy for any warning or prompt configurations related to ad hoc networksAffected if No warning prompts are enabled or configured for ad hoc network associations
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Review wireless connection historyCheck wireless event logs or use 'netsh wlan show networks mode=bssid' to see past and current wireless networks, noting if any are ad hoc modeAffected if Ad hoc networks appear in the available or connected networks list without user awareness
A user is affected if they are running Windows 2000, XP, or Server 2003 R2 with a wireless adapter that accepts ad hoc connections without prompting or warning the user.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
From vendor dataDisable ad hoc wireless mode on affected systems, enable warning prompts for ad hoc associations if available, and consider network segmentation or VPN usage to protect wireless traffic. For long-term security, migrate to supported operating systems.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2006-0376 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2006-0376 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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