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ArubaosOperating system · Arubanetworks

CVE-2023-45620

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-11-14
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 8.6.0.23 / 8.10.0.9 or later.
See remediation →
84/100
Remediation priority · High
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
Unauthenticated Denial-of-Service (DoS) vulnerabilities exist in the CLI service accessed via the PAPI protocol. Successful exploitation of these vulnerabilities result in the ability to interrupt the normal operation of the affected access point.

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

Unauthenticated Denial-of-Service vulnerabilities exist in the CLI service accessed via the PAPI (Protocol for Access Point Interface) protocol. Attackers can exploit these vulnerabilities without credentials to crash or hang the CLI service on affected access points, disrupting normal operation.

MitigationApply vendor-specific patches when available; until then, consider restricting network access to the PAPI protocol (e.g., via ACLs or firewall rules) or disabling unnecessary CLI access interfaces to reduce attack surface.

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:>= 10.3.0.0, < 10.4.0.3= 10.5.0.0
InstantosOperating system
Affected:>= 6.4.0.0, < 8.6.0.23>= 8.10.0.0, < 8.10.0.9>= 8.11.0.0, < 8.11.2.0

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

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/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 product and version
    Log into the device controller or access point and run 'show version' or check the device management interface to determine if the OS is ArubaOS or HP InstantOS and note the exact version number
    Affected if The version falls within any of these ranges: ArubaOS >= 10.3.0.0 AND < 10.4.0.3, OR = 10.5.0.0; HP InstantOS >= 6.4.0.0 AND < 8.6.0.23, OR >= 8.10.0.0 AND < 8.10.0.9, OR >= 8.11.0.0 AND < 8.11.2.0
  2. Verify PAPI protocol is enabled
    Check the device configuration for PAPI protocol settings. Typically accessible via 'show papi status' or through the controller web interface under CLI or management settings
    Affected if PAPI protocol and CLI service are enabled on the device
  3. Confirm network exposure of PAPI service
    Review firewall rules, ACLs, or port configurations to determine if the PAPI port (default UDP 8211) is accessible from untrusted network segments or the internet
    Affected if PAPI service is reachable from untrusted or external network addresses without restrictive ACLs
  4. Check for recent CLI service instability
    Review device logs using 'show logging' or check system logs for unexpected CLI service restarts, crashes, or hangs that correlate with external network activity
    Affected if CLI service has been crashing or hanging without clear administrative cause

The environment is affected if the device runs a vulnerable ArubaOS or HP InstantOS version AND has PAPI/CLI service enabled and accessible from network segments where untrusted attackers could reach it.

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 8.6.0.23 / 8.10.0.9 / 8.11.2.0 or later
Fixed in 8.6.0.238.10.0.98.11.2.0
Interim mitigation

Apply vendor-specific patches when available; until then, consider restricting network access to the PAPI protocol (e.g., via ACLs or firewall rules) or disabling unnecessary CLI access interfaces to reduce attack surface.

Recommended fix High confidence

ArubaOS: upgrade to 10.4.0.3 or later (10.4.x recommended); InstantOS: upgrade to 8.6.0.23+/8.10.0.9+/8.11.2.0+

  1. Verify current ArubaOS or InstantOS version using 'show version' command
  2. For ArubaOS: Plan upgrade to version 10.4.0.3 or later (10.4.x stable recommended). Note: Version 10.5.0.0 is also vulnerable; avoid it.
  3. For InstantOS: Plan upgrade to one of: 8.6.0.23 or later in 8.6.x, 8.10.0.9 or later in 8.10.x, or 8.11.2.0 or later in 8.11.x
  4. Download the appropriate upgrade image from the Aruba support portal (https://asp.arubanetworks.com)
  5. Back up the current configuration using 'backup flash' command
  6. Upload the new firmware image to the controller/AP
  7. For ArubaOS: Execute 'upgrade-software' or use WebUI to apply the new image
  8. For InstantOS: Execute 'reload' or use WebUI to reboot with new image
Caveat Review Aruba upgrade guidelines for controller-to-controller compatibility and ensure AP image compatibility 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
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
16.0 hours of engineering $2,840
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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-2023-45620 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
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data