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ArubaosOperating system · Arubanetworks

CVE-2023-38484

MEDIUM · 6.4 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-09-06
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 8.6.0.22 / 8.10.0.7 or later.
See remediation →
66/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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
Vulnerabilities exist in the BIOS implementation of Aruba 9200 and 9000 Series Controllers and Gateways that could allow an attacker to execute arbitrary code early in the boot sequence. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability to gain access to and change underlying sensitive information in the affected controller leading to complete system compromise.

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 · moderate confidence

A vulnerability in the BIOS firmware of Aruba 9200 and 9000 Series Controllers allows execution of arbitrary code early in the boot process, before the operating system loads. This enables an attacker to gain persistent, root-level access to the system and modify sensitive underlying data, resulting in complete system compromise.

MitigationApply the vendor-provided BIOS firmware patch to address the vulnerability. If a patch is unavailable, implement network segmentation and physical access controls to reduce attack surface, and monitor for indicators of compromise.

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:>= 8.6.0.0, < 8.6.0.22>= 8.10.0.0, < 8.10.0.7>= 8.11.0.0, < 8.11.1.1>= 10.4.0.0, < 10.4.0.2

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
Local
Complexity
High
Privileges
High
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/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 installed ArubaOS version
    Run the command 'show version' or 'show version detailed' on the controller CLI to retrieve the currently installed ArubaOS firmware version
    Affected if The displayed version falls within any of these ranges: >= 8.6.0.0 and < 8.6.0.22; >= 8.10.0.0 and < 8.10.0.7; >= 8.11.0.0 and < 8.11.1.1; >= 10.4.0.0 and < 10.4.0.2
  2. Identify the BIOS firmware version
    Run 'show version' or 'show system information' and locate the BIOS/UEFI firmware version listed in the output. This is typically displayed alongside the hardware model and ArubaOS version
    Affected if The BIOS firmware version corresponds to an ArubaOS version that falls within the affected ranges listed above (the BIOS version is tied to the ArubaOS release)
  3. Verify the controller model is in the affected product line
    Run 'show version' and confirm the hardware model is an Aruba 9200 Series or 9000 Series Controller
    Affected if The hardware is an Aruba 9200 or 9000 Series controller and the ArubaOS version matches the affected ranges
  4. Determine if remote management interfaces are accessible
    Check the current network configuration by running 'show ip interface' and reviewing management interface access lists to see if the controller management interface is exposed to untrusted networks
    Affected if The management interface is reachable from untrusted networks, increasing the likelihood of remote exploitation attempts for this pre-boot vulnerability

If the controller runs ArubaOS version 8.6.0.0-8.6.0.21, 8.10.0.0-8.10.0.6, 8.11.0.0-8.11.1.0, or 10.4.0.0-10.4.0.1 on a 9200 or 9000 Series platform, the system is affected by this BIOS vulnerability.

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 8.6.0.22 / 8.10.0.7 / 8.11.1.1 or later
Fixed in 8.6.0.228.10.0.78.11.1.1
Interim mitigation

Apply the vendor-provided BIOS firmware patch to address the vulnerability. If a patch is unavailable, implement network segmentation and physical access controls to reduce attack surface, and monitor for indicators of compromise.

Recommended fix High confidence

ArubaOS 8.6.0.22, 8.10.0.7, 8.11.1.1, or 10.4.0.2 (depending on your release branch)

  1. 1. Identify the current ArubaOS version by running 'show version' on the controller CLI
  2. 2. Determine the appropriate upgrade path based on the current version (8.6.x → 8.6.0.22, 8.10.x → 8.10.0.7, 8.11.x → 8.11.1.1, or 10.4.x → 10.4.0.2)
  3. 3. Download the appropriate ArubaOS upgrade image from the Aruba support portal (https://asp.arubanetworks.com)
  4. 4. Back up the current configuration using 'backup flash' or 'write mem' commands
  5. 5. Upload the upgrade image to the controller via TFTP, FTP, or via the WebUI
  6. 6. Verify the image integrity using the MD5/SHA256 checksum provided by Aruba
  7. 7. Reboot the controller to apply the upgrade using 'reload' command
  8. 8. After reboot, verify the new version is installed using 'show version'
Caveat Standard ArubaOS point releases typically preserve configuration; however, always test in a non-production environment first and review the release notes for any known issues or migration considerations

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

Fix this in Arubaos Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation6.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
24.0 hours of engineering $4,260
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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-2023-38484 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