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Wireless Lan ControllerApplication · Cisco

CVE-2016-9194

MEDIUM · 6.5 CVSS v3.0 Published 2017-04-06
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
A vulnerability in 802.11 Wireless Multimedia Extensions (WME) action frame processing in Cisco Wireless LAN Controller (WLC) Software could allow an unauthenticated, adjacent attacker to cause a denial of service (DoS) condition. The vulnerability is due to incomplete input validation of the 802.11 WME packet header. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending malformed 802.11 WME frames to a targeted device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause the WLC to reload unexpectedly. The fixed versions are 8.0.140.0, 8.2.130.0, and 8.3.111.0. Cisco Bug IDs: CSCva86353.

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

A vulnerability in Cisco Wireless LAN Controller software exists due to incomplete input validation of 802.11 Wireless Multimedia Extensions (WME) action frame headers. An unauthenticated, adjacent attacker within wireless range can send malformed WME frames to trigger an unexpected device reload, causing denial of service.

MitigationUpgrade Cisco WLC software to version 8.0.140.0, 8.2.130.0, or 8.3.111.0 or later to remediate this vulnerability.

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:= 5.2.157.0= 5.2.169.0= 6.0_base= 7.0_base= 7.1_base= 7.2_base= 7.3.101.0= 7.3.103.8= 7.3.112= 7.3_base= 7.4.1.1= 7.4.100
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 device is a Cisco Wireless LAN Controller
    Log into the controller CLI and run 'show inventory' or check the device model via 'show version' to verify the hardware is a Cisco WLC.
    Affected if The device is not a Cisco Wireless LAN Controller, this CVE does not apply.
  2. Identify the Cisco WLC software version
    Run 'show version' in the CLI. Look for the software version number in the output (for example: 7.4.100.0 or 6.0.182.0).
    Affected if Unable to retrieve the software version from the device.
  3. Compare installed version against affected releases
    Match your installed version to the affected list: 5.2.157.0, 5.2.169.0, 6.0 (versions 182.0, 188.0, 196.0, 199.4, 202.0), 7.0 (versions 98.0, 98.218, 116.0, 220.0, 240.0, 250.0, 252.0), 7.1 (version 91.0), 7.2 (version 103.0), 7.3 (versions 101.0, 103.8, 112), 7.4 (versions 1.19, 1.54, 140.0, 1.1, 100).
    Affected if Your installed version matches any of the versions listed in the affected products.
  4. Verify wireless radio status
    Run 'show ap config general' or 'show wireless summary' in the CLI to confirm Access Points are joined and radios are enabled.
    Affected if Wireless radios are disabled and no APs are joined, the attack surface is reduced but the software version may still be vulnerable.

You are affected if the device is a Cisco Wireless LAN Controller running any version listed in the affected products and versions, with wireless functionality enabled.

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, 8.2.130.0, or 8.3.111.0 or later to remediate this vulnerability.

Fix this in Wireless Lan Controller Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation3.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
8.0 hours of engineering $1,420
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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-2016-9194 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