Wireless Lan Controller FirmwareOperating system · Cisco

CVE-2016-9219

HIGH · 7.5 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 →
84/100
Remediation priority · High
Remotely reachable 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 with IPv6 UDP ingress packet processing in Cisco Wireless LAN Controller (WLC) Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to cause an unexpected reload of the device. The vulnerability is due to incomplete IPv6 UDP header validation. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a crafted IPv6 UDP packet to a specific port on the targeted device. An exploit could allow the attacker to impact the availability of the device as it could unexpectedly reload. This vulnerability affects Cisco Wireless LAN Controller (WLC) running software version 8.2.121.0 or 8.3.102.0. Cisco Bug IDs: CSCva98592.

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 (WLC) Software allows unauthenticated remote attackers to cause device reload by sending crafted IPv6 UDP packets to specific ports. The root cause is incomplete IPv6 UDP header validation during packet processing. Successful exploitation results in denial of service via unexpected device reload.

MitigationApply the Cisco software update addressing this vulnerability. Upgrade to a patched version beyond 8.2.121.0 or 8.3.102.0 as specified in Cisco's advisory. Consider implementing network segmentation and firewall rules to restrict IPv6 UDP traffic to the WLC management interfaces as a compensating control.

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 Controller FirmwareOperating system
Affected:= 8.2.121.0
Wireless Lan Controller SoftwareOperating system
Affected:= 8.3.102.0

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

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/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. Determine the Cisco WLC firmware version
    Log into the WLC CLI and run 'show version' or access the web interface to view the Controller > Software Version field
    Affected if The displayed version is exactly 8.2.121.0 or exactly 8.3.102.0
  2. Determine the Cisco WLC software version
    Log into the WLC CLI and run 'show version' or access the web interface to view the Software Version field
    Affected if The displayed version is exactly 8.2.121.0 or exactly 8.3.102.0 (for firmware-based installations)
  3. Verify if IPv6 is enabled on the WLC
    Run 'show ipv6 status' in the WLC CLI or check the IPv6 settings under Controller > IPv6 in the web interface
    Affected if IPv6 is enabled and the WLC is processing IPv6 traffic (the vulnerability requires IPv6 UDP packets to reach the device)

You are affected only if your WLC runs exactly version 8.2.121.0 or 8.3.102.0 AND IPv6 is enabled on the controller.

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

Apply the Cisco software update addressing this vulnerability. Upgrade to a patched version beyond 8.2.121.0 or 8.3.102.0 as specified in Cisco's advisory. Consider implementing network segmentation and firewall rules to restrict IPv6 UDP traffic to the WLC management interfaces as a compensating control.

Fix this in Wireless Lan Controller Firmware Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
15.0 hours of engineering $2,580
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Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

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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-2016-9219 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