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Wireless Lan ControllerApplication · Cisco

CVE-2016-6376

MEDIUM · 6.5 CVSS v3.0 Published 2016-09-02
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
70/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
No privileges Zero-click

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 · unedited
The Adaptive Wireless Intrusion Prevention System (wIPS) feature on Cisco Wireless LAN Controller (WLC) devices before 8.0.140.0, 8.1.x and 8.2.x before 8.2.121.0, and 8.3.x before 8.3.102.0 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (device restart) via a malformed wIPS packet, aka Bug ID CSCuz40263.

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 confidence

The Adaptive Wireless Intrusion Prevention System (wIPS) feature on Cisco Wireless LAN Controller devices contains a vulnerability where processing malformed wIPS packets triggers a device restart, causing denial of service. This is a remote, network-based attack requiring no authentication.

MitigationUpgrade Cisco WLC software to version 8.0.140.0 or later (8.0.x), 8.2.121.0 or later (8.1.x/8.2.x), or 8.3.102.0 or later (8.3.x) as specified in the Cisco advisory.

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
Wireless Lan ControllerApplication
Affected:= 3.0_base= 3.1.59.24= 3.1.105.0= 3.1.111.0= 3.2.78.0= 3.2.116.21= 3.2.150.6= 3.2.150.10= 3.2.171.5= 3.2.171.6= 3.2.185.0= 3.2.193.5
Wireless Lan Controller 6.0Application
Affected:= 182.0= 188.0= 196.0= 199.4= 202.0
Wireless Lan Controller 7.0Application
Affected:= 98.0= 98.218= 116.0= 220.0= 240.0= 250.0= 252.0
Wireless Lan Controller 7.1Application
Affected:= 91.0
Wireless Lan Controller 7.2Application
Affected:= 103.0
Wireless Lan Controller 7.4Application
Affected:= 1.19= 1.54= 140.0

CVSS 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
Adjacent
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.0/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Confirm wIPS feature is enabled
    Access the WLC web interface or CLI and check the wIPS configuration status. In the CLI, look for wIPS-related policies or check the current wireless intrusion prevention system configuration.
    Affected if wIPS feature is enabled and the device is running an affected version listed in the CVE (versions 3.0_base through 3.2.193.5 for 3.x, versions 182.0 through 202.0 for 6.0, versions 98.0 through 252.0 for 7.0, versions 91.0 for 7.1, versions 103.0 for 7.2, and versions 1.19 through 140.0 for 7.4)
  2. Retrieve the WLC software version
    Run the command 'show version' on the WLC CLI or check the web interface under Controller > General to obtain the currently installed software version.
    Affected if The installed version matches exactly one of the versions listed in the CVE advisory as affected (for example: 3.1.59.24, 3.2.116.21, 7.0.98.0, 7.4.140.0, etc.)
  3. Identify the WLC model and firmware branch
    Use 'show inventory' or 'show controller' CLI commands to identify the WLC model and confirm which software branch (3.x, 6.0, 7.0, 7.1, 7.2, or 7.4) it is running.
    Affected if The device runs a firmware branch and version that appears in the affected versions list for that branch.

The environment is affected if the WLC has wIPS feature enabled AND is running a software version that exactly matches one of the versions listed in the CVE advisory (3.x, 6.0, 7.0, 7.1, 7.2, or 7.4 branches with specific version numbers).

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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 data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Upgrade Cisco WLC software to version 8.0.140.0 or later (8.0.x), 8.2.121.0 or later (8.1.x/8.2.x), or 8.3.102.0 or later (8.3.x) as specified in the Cisco advisory.

Fix this in Wireless Lan Controller Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
10.0 hours of engineering $1,750
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2016-6376 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • 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
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data