Aironet 3800 FirmwareOperating system · Cisco
CVE-2017-12283
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 · uneditedA vulnerability in the handling of 802.11w Protected Management Frames (PAF) by Cisco Aironet 3800 Series Access Points could allow an unauthenticated, adjacent attacker to terminate a valid user connection to an affected device, aka Denial of Service. The vulnerability exists because the affected device does not properly validate 802.11w PAF disassociation and deauthentication frames that it receives. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a spoofed 802.11w PAF frame from a valid, authenticated client on an adjacent network to an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to terminate a single valid user connection to the affected device. This vulnerability affects Access Points that are configured to run in FlexConnect mode. Cisco Bug IDs: CSCvc20627.
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 Cisco Aironet 3800 Series Access Points fail to properly validate 802.11w Protected Management Frames (PMF), specifically disassociation and deauthentication frames. An unauthenticated attacker on an adjacent network can spoof these frames from a legitimate client, causing the AP to terminate that valid user's connection. This DoS vulnerability only affects APs running in FlexConnect mode.
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
Aironet 3800 FirmwareOperating system
all 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
- Adjacent
- Complexity
- High
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Changed
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:A/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
-
Identify the Access Point modelRun 'show version' on the AP CLI or check the device inventory in Cisco WLC web interface. Look for 'Aironet 3800' in the model name.Affected if The device is a Cisco Aironet 3800 Series Access Point.
-
Confirm FlexConnect mode is enabledRun 'show wireless flexconnect summary' on the Cisco WLC CLI, or check the AP mode settings in the WLC web interface under Controller > AP > AP Mode. FlexConnect mode is displayed as 'FlexConnect' or 'Flex' mode.Affected if FlexConnect mode is enabled on the AP.
You are affected if you have a Cisco Aironet 3800 Series AP with FlexConnect mode currently enabled, as all firmware versions of this model are vulnerable when running in FlexConnect mode.
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 the Cisco firmware update addressing CSCvc20627. Until patched, consider disabling FlexConnect mode or implementing additional RF isolation to reduce adjacent network attack surface.
Fix this in Aironet 3800 Firmware
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation3.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,272.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2017-12283 — 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-2017-12283 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
Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.
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.
- 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