Wireless Lan ControllerApplication · Cisco

CVE-2019-1799

MEDIUM · 6.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2019-04-18
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 8.2.170.0 / 8.3.150.0 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 handling of Inter-Access Point Protocol (IAPP) messages by Cisco Wireless LAN Controller (WLC) Software could allow an unauthenticated, adjacent attacker to cause a denial of service (DoS) condition. The vulnerability exist because the software improperly validates input on fields within IAPP messages. An attacker could exploit the vulnerability by sending malicious IAPP messages to an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause the Cisco WLC Software to reload, resulting in a DoS condition. Software versions prior to 8.2.170.0, 8.5.150.0, and 8.8.100.0 are affected.

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

Cisco Wireless LAN Controller software has an input validation vulnerability in its Inter-Access Point Protocol (IAPP) message handling. An unauthenticated, adjacent attacker can send malformed IAPP messages containing improperly validated fields, causing the WLC to reload and result in a denial of service.

MitigationUpgrade Cisco WLC Software to version 8.2.170.0, 8.5.150.0, 8.8.100.0 or later to address the input validation vulnerability in IAPP message processing.

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 ControllerApplication
Affected:< 8.2.170.0
Wireless Lan Controller SoftwareOperating system
Affected:>= 8.3.143.0, < 8.3.150.0>= 8.5.103.0, < 8.5.131.0>= 8.6.101.0, < 8.8.100.0

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. Confirm Cisco Wireless LAN Controller is present
    Access the WLC CLI and run `show inventory` or `show version` to identify the device type
    Affected if The device is a Cisco Wireless LAN Controller model (such as 5500, 8500 series, or virtual WLC)
  2. Determine the installed software version
    Run `show version` on the WLC CLI and locate the software release number in the output
    Affected if The version is below 8.2.170.0, between 8.3.143.0 and 8.3.149.0, between 8.5.103.0 and 8.5.130.0, or between 8.6.101.0 and 8.8.99.0
  3. Verify IAPP protocol is in use
    Run `show run-config | include iapp` or check the running configuration with `show run-config` to see if IAPP messaging is enabled
    Affected if IAPP is enabled (this is typically enabled by default when multiple APs communicate with the controller)
  4. Confirm access points are joined to the controller
    Run `show ap join summary` to list access points connected to the WLC
    Affected if One or more access points are joined to the controller, as IAPP handles inter-AP communication

The environment is affected if the WLC runs a software version matching the affected ranges and has IAPP enabled with access points joined.

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 8.2.170.0 / 8.3.150.0 / 8.5.131.0 or later
Fixed in 8.2.170.08.3.150.08.5.131.0
Interim mitigation

Upgrade Cisco WLC Software to version 8.2.170.0, 8.5.150.0, 8.8.100.0 or later to address the input validation vulnerability in IAPP message processing.

Fix this in Wireless Lan Controller Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
20.0 hours of engineering $3,440
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Scan for this in your stack

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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-2019-1799 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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
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