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ArubaosOperating system · Arubanetworks

CVE-2023-35980

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-07-25
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 6.4.4.8-4.2.4.22 / 6.5.4.25 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable 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
There are buffer overflow vulnerabilities in multiple underlying services that could lead to unauthenticated remote code execution by sending specially crafted packets destined to the PAPI (Aruba's access point management protocol) UDP port (8211). Successful exploitation of these vulnerabilities result in the ability to execute arbitrary code as a privileged user on the underlying operating system.

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

Buffer overflow vulnerabilities in Aruba's PAPI (Access Point Management Protocol) service on UDP port 8211 allow unauthenticated attackers to execute arbitrary code with privileged (root) OS-level access by sending specially crafted UDP packets.

MitigationApply Aruba's security patches immediately; if patches are unavailable, restrict network access to UDP port 8211 via firewall rules or network segmentation to prevent unauthorized external traffic from reaching affected devices.

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
ArubaosOperating system
Affected:>= 10.4.0.0, < 10.4.0.2
InstantosOperating system
Affected:>= 6.4.0.0, < 6.4.4.8-4.2.4.22>= 6.5.0.0, < 6.5.4.25>= 8.6.0.0, < 8.6.0.21>= 8.10.0.0, < 8.10.0.7>= 8.11.0.0, < 8.11.1.1

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
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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 product and OS version
    Run 'show version' or 'show system info' on the Aruba device CLI to determine if it runs ArubaOS or HP InstantOS and note the exact version number
    Affected if The device runs ArubaOS or HP InstantOS and the version falls within the affected ranges
  2. Compare installed version against CVE-affected ranges
    For ArubaOS: verify version is >= 10.4.0.0 but < 10.4.0.2. For HP InstantOS: verify version is >= 6.4.0.0 but < 6.4.4.8-4.2.4.22, OR >= 6.5.0.0 but < 6.5.4.25, OR >= 8.6.0.0 but < 8.6.0.21, OR >= 8.10.0.0 but < 8.10.0.7, OR >= 8.11.0.0 but < 8.11.1.1
    Affected if The installed version matches any of the specified version ranges
  3. Verify UDP port 8211 is listening
    Run 'show ip interface' or use 'netstat -anu | grep 8211' (if available) to confirm the PAPI service on UDP port 8211 is enabled and bound to an interface
    Affected if UDP port 8211 is open and listening on any interface accessible to untrusted networks
  4. Check network exposure of the PAPI service
    Review firewall rules, ACLs, or network segmentation to determine if UDP port 8211 is accessible from untrusted or external networks. Use 'show ip access-list' (if available) to inspect applied access controls
    Affected if UDP port 8211 is reachable from networks outside the trusted management segment

A device is affected if it runs a vulnerable ArubaOS or HP InstantOS version within the specified ranges AND has UDP port 8211 exposed to untrusted network access.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 6.4.4.8-4.2.4.22 / 6.5.4.25 / 8.6.0.21 or later
Fixed in 6.4.4.8-4.2.4.226.5.4.258.6.0.21
Interim mitigation

Apply Aruba's security patches immediately; if patches are unavailable, restrict network access to UDP port 8211 via firewall rules or network segmentation to prevent unauthorized external traffic from reaching affected devices.

Recommended fix High confidence

ArubaOS 10.4.0.2 or later; InstantOS 6.4.4.8-4.2.4.22 / 6.5.4.25 / 8.6.0.21 / 8.10.0.7 or later depending on branch

  1. Identify the currently installed ArubaOS or InstantOS version using 'show version' command
  2. For ArubaOS: Upgrade to version 10.4.0.2 or later by uploading the firmware file via WebUI or CLI (copy flash:<filename> flash: and boot system <file>)
  3. For InstantOS: Upgrade to the appropriate fixed version based on your current branch: 6.4.x branch to 6.4.4.8-4.2.4.22 or later, 6.5.x branch to 6.5.4.25 or later, 8.6.x branch to 8.6.0.21 or later, 8.10.x branch to 8.10.0.7 or later
  4. Schedule maintenance window as upgrade requires controller reboot
  5. After upgrade, verify the fix by checking 'show version' confirms the fixed version is running
  6. Restrict access to UDP port 8211 (PAPI) from untrusted networks as an additional mitigation if immediate upgrade is not possible
Caveat Standard firmware upgrade - review Aruba release notes for any configuration changes or migration considerations before upgrading

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Arubaos Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
18.0 hours of engineering $3,200
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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-2023-35980 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