dbcve.org
Aironet Access Point SoftwareOperating system · Cisco

CVE-2018-0234

HIGH · 8.6 CVSS v3.0 Published 2018-05-02
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
95/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
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 in the implementation of Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP) functionality in Cisco Aironet 1810, 1830, and 1850 Series Access Points could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to cause an affected device to reload, resulting in a denial of service (DoS) condition. The vulnerability is due to insufficient validation of Generic Routing Encapsulation (GRE) frames that pass through the data plane of an affected access point. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by initiating a PPTP connection to an affected access point from a device that is registered to the same wireless network as the access point and sending a malicious GRE frame through the data plane of the access point. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause the NSS core process on the affected access point to crash, which would cause the access point to reload and result in a DoS condition. This vulnerability affects Cisco Aironet 1810, 1830, and 1850 Series Access Points that are running Cisco Mobility Express Software Release 8.4.100.0, 8.5.103.0, or 8.5.105.0 and are configured as a master, subordinate, or standalone access point. Cisco Bug IDs: CSCvf73890.

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 the PPTP implementation on Cisco Aironet 1810, 1830, and 1850 Series Access Points running specific Mobility Express software releases allows an unauthenticated remote attacker on the same wireless network to send malicious GRE frames through the data plane, causing the NSS core process to crash and the device to reload, resulting in denial of service.

MitigationDisable PPTP functionality on affected access points if not required, or apply the vendor-provided firmware update when available. Until then, restrict network access to trusted devices only.

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 Access Point SoftwareOperating system
Affected:= 8.4\(100.0\)= 8.5\(103.0\)= 8.5\(105.0\)

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
Changed
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/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 checks

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

  1. Identify the access point model
    Log into the access point CLI or web interface and run 'show version' or check the device inventory to confirm the model is Cisco Aironet 1810, 1830, or 1850 Series
    Affected if The device is not one of these three series models, then it is not affected by this CVE
  2. Check the installed software version
    Run 'show version' on the access point CLI to display the firmware version. Look for a version number of 8.4(100.0), 8.5(103.0), or 8.5(105.0)
    Affected if The installed version exactly matches 8.4(100.0), 8.5(103.0), or 8.5(105.0), then the device is running a vulnerable release
  3. Verify if PPTP is enabled
    Run 'show running-config | include pptp' or check the GUI under Security > PPTP to see if Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol is enabled on the device
    Affected if PPTP is enabled and the device version matches one of the affected versions listed above, then the device is vulnerable to the denial-of-service attack described in this CVE

A device is affected only if it is an Aironet 1810, 1830, or 1850 series running version 8.4(100.0), 8.5(103.0), or 8.5(105.0) with PPTP 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

Disable PPTP functionality on affected access points if not required, or apply the vendor-provided firmware update when available. Until then, restrict network access to trusted devices only.

Fix this in Aironet Access Point Software Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
15.0 hours of engineering $2,690
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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-2018-0234 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