dbcve.org
Ios XeOperating system · Cisco

CVE-2023-20067

MEDIUM · 6.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-03-23
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
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 HTTP-based client profiling feature of Cisco IOS XE Software for Wireless LAN Controllers (WLCs) could allow an unauthenticated, adjacent attacker to cause a denial of service (DoS) condition on an affected device. This vulnerability is due to insufficient input validation of received traffic. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending crafted traffic through a wireless access point. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause CPU utilization to increase, which could result in a DoS condition on an affected device and could cause new wireless client associations to fail. Once the offending traffic stops, the affected system will return to an operational state and new client associations will succeed.

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

This is a denial of service vulnerability in the HTTP-based client profiling feature of Cisco IOS XE Software for Wireless LAN Controllers. An unauthenticated, adjacent attacker with access to a wireless access point can send specially crafted traffic that causes excessive CPU utilization on the WLC, preventing new wireless client associations from succeeding. The system recovers automatically once the malicious traffic ceases.

MitigationApply the Cisco IOS XE software update that addresses this vulnerability once released. In the interim, monitor CPU utilization on affected WLCs and consider network segmentation to limit attack surface from untrusted wireless access points.

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
Ios XeOperating system
Affected:= 16.10.1= 16.10.1e= 16.10.1s= 16.11.1= 16.11.1a= 16.11.1b= 16.11.1c= 16.11.2= 16.12.1= 16.12.1s= 16.12.1t= 16.12.2s

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 IOS XE version on the Wireless LAN Controller
    Execute 'show version' or 'show install summary' on the device CLI to retrieve the running IOS XE software version.
    Affected if The version matches any of these: 16.10.1, 16.10.1e, 16.10.1s, 16.11.1, 16.11.1a, 16.11.1b, 16.11.1c, 16.11.2, 16.12.1, 16.12.1s, 16.12.1t, or 16.12.2s.
  2. Confirm Wireless LAN Controller functionality is active
    Execute 'show wireless summary' or 'show controller D0' (or relevant WLC interface) to verify the WLC feature is enabled and running.
    Affected if The WLC is operational and processing wireless client traffic.
  3. Check if HTTP-based client profiling is configured
    Execute 'show wireless client profiling' or 'show run | include client profiling' to determine if the HTTP client profiling feature is enabled.
    Affected if HTTP-based client profiling is enabled on the wireless controller.
  4. Monitor CPU utilization on the WLC
    Execute 'show processes cpu history' or 'show platform cpu percentage' to observe CPU utilization patterns, particularly during periods of wireless client activity.
    Affected if CPU utilization spikes excessively when wireless traffic is present, especially during client association attempts.
  5. Verify wireless client association capability
    Attempt to associate a test wireless client or review 'show wireless client summary' to confirm new clients can associate.
    Affected if New wireless clients are unable to associate or experience significant delays during periods of adjacent network traffic.

The environment is affected if the device runs an affected IOS XE version (16.10.x through 16.12.2s), has Wireless LAN Controller enabled, and has HTTP-based client profiling activated, with symptoms of excessive CPU preventing new client associations.

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 IOS XE software update that addresses this vulnerability once released. In the interim, monitor CPU utilization on affected WLCs and consider network segmentation to limit attack surface from untrusted wireless access points.

Fix this in Ios Xe Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
13.0 hours of engineering $2,330
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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-2023-20067 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
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