CVE-2008-5563
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 · uneditedAruba Mobility Controller 2.4.8.x-FIPS, 2.5.x, 3.1.x, 3.2.x, 3.3.1.x, and 3.3.2.x allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (device crash) via a malformed Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP) frame.
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 confidenceAruba Mobility Controller wireless devices allow remote attackers to cause denial of service via malformed Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP) frames. The vulnerability affects multiple firmware versions (2.4.8.x-FIPS through 3.3.2.x) and results in device crash, likely due to insufficient input validation when processing EAP authentication frames.
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 data= 2.4.8= 2.4.8.5= 2.4.8.6= 2.4.8.11= 2.5.2.11= 2.5.4.17= 2.5.4.18= 2.5.4.25= 2.5.5= 2.5.5.7= 2.5.6= 3.1.1= 3.1.1.3= 3.1.1.0= 3.1.1.3= 3.2.0.0= 3.3.1.0= 3.3.1.6CVSS 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
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- Complete
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:C
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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Confirm Aruba Mobility Controller modelIdentify the device model through device inventory, network documentation, or CLI command 'show version' which displays the hardware platformAffected if Device is not an Aruba Mobility Controller (not affected by this specific CVE)
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Check installed firmware versionRun CLI command 'show version' or check device management interface to obtain the exact firmware version numberAffected if Version matches or falls within these affected ranges: 2.4.8.x-FIPS through 3.3.2.x, including specific versions 2.4.8, 2.4.8.5, 2.4.8.6, 2.4.8.11, 2.5.2.11, 2.5.4.17, 2.5.4.18, 2.5.4.25, 2.5.5, 2.5.5.7, 2.5.6, 3.1.1, 3.1.1.3, 3.1.1.0, 3.2.0.0, 3.3.1.0, 3.3.1.6
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Verify 802.1X authentication is configuredRun CLI command 'show aaa authentication' or check the wireless controller configuration for 802.1X or EAP authentication server profilesAffected if 802.1X authentication is enabled - this is the feature that processes EAP frames and triggers the vulnerability when malformed frames are received
Device is affected if it is an Aruba Mobility Controller running a firmware version between 2.4.8.x-FIPS and 3.3.2.x AND has 802.1X/EAP authentication enabled, as the vulnerability is triggered only when processing malformed EAP frames.
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 dataApply vendor-supplied firmware patches to upgrade to a fixed version. Consider network-level filtering of malformed EAP traffic at perimeter devices as a compensating control until patching is possible.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation3.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2008-5563 — 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-2008-5563 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
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