dbcve.org
Aironet 1540 FirmwareOperating system · Cisco

CVE-2019-15265

MEDIUM · 6.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2019-10-16
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 8.5.151.0 / 8.8.120.0 or later.
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 the bridge protocol data unit (BPDU) forwarding functionality of Cisco Aironet Access Points (APs) could allow an unauthenticated, adjacent attacker to cause an AP port to go into an error disabled state. The vulnerability occurs because BPDUs received from specific wireless clients are forwarded incorrectly. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability on the wireless network by sending a steady stream of crafted BPDU frames. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause a limited denial of service (DoS) attack because an AP port could go offline.

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 Aironet Access Points allows BPDU (Bridge Protocol Data Unit) frames from specific wireless clients to be forwarded incorrectly, causing AP ports to enter an error-disabled state. An unauthenticated adjacent attacker can exploit this by sending a steady stream of crafted BPDU frames on the wireless network, resulting in a limited denial of service condition.

MitigationUpdate Cisco Aironet APs to the vendor-provided patched firmware version. Consider network segmentation or BPDU filtering on wireless interfaces as compensating controls until the patch can be applied.

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 1540 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:< 8.5.151.0>= 8.6, < 8.8.120.0>= 8.8.125.0, < 8.9.100.0
Aironet 1560 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:< 8.5.151.0>= 8.6, < 8.8.120.0>= 8.8.125.0, < 8.9.100.0
Aironet 1800 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:< 8.5.151.0>= 8.6, < 8.8.120.0>= 8.8.125.0, < 8.9.100.0
Aironet 2800 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:< 8.5.151.0>= 8.6, < 8.8.120.0>= 8.8.125.0, < 8.9.100.0
Aironet 3800 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:< 8.5.151.0>= 8.6, < 8.8.120.0>= 8.8.125.0, < 8.9.100.0

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:3.1/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. Identify the Cisco Aironet AP model
    Log into the AP via console, SSH, or web UI and run 'show version' or check the device label/Inventory page to confirm the model number (1540, 1560, 1800, 2800, or 3800)
    Affected if The model is one of: 1540, 1560, 1800, 2800, or 3800
  2. Retrieve the installed firmware version
    Run 'show version' on the AP CLI or check the firmware/software version displayed in the web UI under the Access Point summary or Controller > Access Points section
    Affected if The firmware version is displayed and can be compared to the affected ranges
  3. Compare firmware version against affected ranges
    Check if the installed version falls into any of these ranges: < 8.5.151.0; >= 8.6 and < 8.8.120.0; >= 8.8.125.0 and < 8.9.100.0
    Affected if The installed version matches any of the affected version ranges listed
  4. Verify BPDU handling symptom
    Monitor AP port status using 'show interfaces' or 'show port-security' to check for error-disabled ports, or review logs for BPDU-related interface flapping
    Affected if AP ports are repeatedly entering error-disabled state due to BPDU traffic

You are affected if you are running any of the listed Cisco Aironet models (1540, 1560, 1800, 2800, 3800) with firmware version matching the ranges: < 8.5.151.0, >= 8.6 to < 8.8.120.0, or >= 8.8.125.0 to < 8.9.100.0

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
Upgrade available Upgrade to 8.5.151.0 / 8.8.120.0 / 8.9.100.0 or later
Fixed in 8.5.151.08.8.120.08.9.100.0
Interim mitigation

Update Cisco Aironet APs to the vendor-provided patched firmware version. Consider network segmentation or BPDU filtering on wireless interfaces as compensating controls until the patch can be applied.

Fix this in Aironet 1540 Firmware Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
20.0 hours of engineering $3,500
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $5,600.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2019-15265 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

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-2019-15265 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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.

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