Aironet 1542i FirmwareOperating system · Cisco
CVE-2020-3260
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 Cisco Aironet Series Access Points Software could allow an unauthenticated, adjacent attacker to cause a denial of service (DoS) condition on an affected device. The vulnerability is due to the improper processing of client packets that are sent to an affected access point (AP). An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a large number of sustained client packets to the affected AP. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause the affected AP to crash, resulting in a DoS condition.
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 confidenceA denial of service vulnerability in Cisco Aironet Series Access Points allows an unauthenticated, adjacent attacker to crash affected APs by sending a large volume of sustained client packets. The vulnerability stems from improper processing of these client packets, causing the device to crash and become unavailable.
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 1542i FirmwareOperating system
= 8.9\(100.0\)
Aironet 1542d FirmwareOperating system
= 8.9\(100.0\)
Aironet 1815 FirmwareOperating system
= 8.9\(100.0\)
Aironet 1830 FirmwareOperating system
= 8.9\(100.0\)
Aironet 1840 FirmwareOperating system
= 8.9\(100.0\)
Aironet 1850 FirmwareOperating system
= 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify the Cisco Aironet modelLog into the access point CLI or web interface and run 'show version' or check the device management page to determine the exact model number (e.g., 1542i, 1542d, 1815, 1830, 1840, or 1850)Affected if The model is one of: 1542i, 1542d, 1815, 1830, 1840, or 1850
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Check the firmware versionRun 'show version' in the AP CLI or check the firmware version displayed in the web interfaceAffected if The firmware version is exactly 8.9(100.0)
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Verify the device is operational and accepting client connectionsCheck that the AP is powered on, connected to the network, and has wireless clients associated or is accepting client associationsAffected if The AP is actively processing wireless client traffic (this is required for the exploit to be triggered)
You are affected if you have a Cisco Aironet 1542i, 1542d, 1815, 1830, 1840, or 1850 access point running firmware version exactly 8.9(100.0) and the device is operational with client traffic enabled
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 patch or upgrade to a fixed software version for affected Aironet Series Access Points. No workarounds are available.
Fix this in Aironet 1542i Firmware
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation6.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA3.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $5,312.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-3260 — 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-2020-3260 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
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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
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