dbcve.org
Wireless Lan Controller SoftwareOperating system · Cisco

CVE-2018-15395

MEDIUM · 5.4 CVSS v3.0 Published 2018-10-17
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
56/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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 authentication and authorization checking mechanisms of Cisco Wireless LAN Controller (WLC) Software could allow an authenticated, adjacent attacker to gain network access to a Cisco TrustSec domain. Under normal circumstances, this access should be prohibited. The vulnerability is due to the dynamic assignment of Security Group Tags (SGTs) during a wireless roam from one Service Set Identifier (SSID) to another within the Cisco TrustSec domain. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by attempting to acquire an SGT from other SSIDs within the domain. Successful exploitation could allow the attacker to gain privileged network access that should be prohibited under normal circumstances.

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 · moderate confidence

This vulnerability in Cisco Wireless LAN Controller Software affects the TrustSec domain's SGT assignment logic. During wireless roaming between SSIDs, the dynamic SGT assignment mechanism fails to properly validate authorization, allowing an authenticated adjacent attacker on one SSID to obtain a more privileged SGT that should be inaccessible, thereby bypassing intended access controls.

MitigationApply the Cisco software update or upgrade to a fixed version when available. As a compensating control, restrict inter-SSID roams or enforce stricter network segmentation until the patch can be deployed.

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 SoftwareOperating system
Affected:= 8.5\(120.0\)

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
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
Low
Integrity
Low
Availability
None

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

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 Cisco WLC model and software version
    Run 'show version' on the Wireless LAN Controller CLI to obtain the exact software version number
    Affected if Version displayed is exactly 8.5(120.0)
  2. Confirm TrustSec is enabled on the controller
    Run 'show trustsec status' or 'show trustsec config' to verify the TrustSec feature is active
    Affected if TrustSec status shows as enabled or configured
  3. Verify dynamic SGT assignment policy exists
    Run 'show trustsec sgt-policy' or 'show wlan trustsec' to check if dynamic SGT mapping policies are configured for wireless clients
    Affected if Dynamic SGT assignment policies are configured for WLAN/SSID
  4. Confirm multiple SSIDs with inter-SSID roaming capability
    Run 'show wlan summary' and review WLAN configurations to identify if multiple SSIDs exist that allow client roaming between them
    Affected if Multiple SSIDs are configured and client roaming between SSIDs is permitted

A user is affected if the WLC runs version 8.5(120.0), TrustSec is enabled, dynamic SGT assignment policies exist, and clients can roam between different SSIDs.

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 or upgrade to a fixed version when available. As a compensating control, restrict inter-SSID roams or enforce stricter network segmentation until the patch can be deployed.

Fix this in Wireless Lan Controller Software Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation3.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
14.0 hours of engineering $2,480
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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-2018-15395 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