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Wireless Lan Controller SoftwareApplication · Cisco

CVE-2024-20354

HIGH · 7.4 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-03-27
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 8.6.0.0 / 8.10.190.81 or later.
See remediation →
79/100
Remediation priority · High
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 handling of encrypted wireless frames of Cisco Aironet Access Point (AP) Software could allow an unauthenticated, adjacent attacker to cause a denial of service (DoS) condition on the affected device. This vulnerability is due to incomplete cleanup of resources when dropping certain malformed frames. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by connecting as a wireless client to an affected AP and sending specific malformed frames over the wireless connection. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause degradation of service to other clients, which could potentially lead to a complete 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 · moderate confidence

A vulnerability in Cisco Aironet Access Point software allows an unauthenticated adjacent attacker with wireless client access to cause denial of service by sending malformed encrypted wireless frames. The vulnerability stems from incomplete cleanup of resources when the affected device drops these malformed frames, leading to resource exhaustion and service degradation for other wireless clients.

MitigationApply the vendor patch for CVE-2024-20354 when released. Until then, implement network access controls to limit unauthorized wireless client associations and monitor for anomalous traffic patterns indicative of exploitation attempts.

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
Wireless Lan Controller SoftwareApplication
Affected:>= 8.5.171.0, < 8.6.0.0>= 8.10.130.0, < 8.10.190.81
Ios XeOperating system
Affected:>= 16.12.4a, < 17.1.0>= 17.3.0, < 17.3.9>= 17.4.0, < 17.6.7>= 17.7.0, < 17.9.5>= 17.10.0, < 17.12.2

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
Adjacent
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/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 installed Cisco Wireless Lan Controller software version
    Log into the WLC controller CLI and run 'show version' or access the web interface to view the software version. For IOS XE, use 'show version' on the device.
    Affected if The version falls within 8.5.171.0 to < 8.6.0.0, or 8.10.130.0 to < 8.10.190.81, or >= 16.12.4a to < 17.1.0, or >= 17.3.0 to < 17.3.9, or >= 17.4.0 to < 17.6.7, or >= 17.7.0 to < 17.9.5, or >= 17.10.0 to < 17.12.2.
  2. Verify wireless client association capability is enabled
    On the WLC, use 'show wlan summary' to list enabled WLANs, or check the controller web interface under WLANs to confirm client access is permitted.
    Affected if Any WLANs are enabled and accepting client associations, allowing adjacent attackers to associate as wireless clients.
  3. Monitor for wireless client disconnections or association failures
    Run 'show client summary' repeatedly or check the WLC web interface for sudden spikes in disassociated clients. Use 'show client association history' to review recent associations.
    Affected if Large numbers of wireless clients are unexpectedly losing connection or failing to associate, indicating potential resource exhaustion.
  4. Check for AP and controller resource depletion
    On the WLC, use 'show process cpu history' and 'show memory' to monitor CPU and memory usage. Look for sustained high utilization or growing memory consumption.
    Affected if CPU or memory usage is abnormally high or steadily increasing without corresponding legitimate client load.
  5. Review wireless client traffic for malformed frames
    Use a wireless sniffer or WLC debugging with 'debug aaa authentication' and 'debug capwap errors' to inspect traffic. Check AP logs for error messages related to malformed frames.
    Affected if AP or controller logs show errors about malformed encrypted wireless frames being received and dropped.

Your environment is affected if the installed Wireless Lan Controller or IOS XE version matches the vulnerable ranges AND wireless client associations are permitted, exposing the device to adjacent attackers who could trigger resource exhaustion.

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
Upgrade available Upgrade to 8.6.0.0 / 8.10.190.81 / 17.1.0 or later
Fixed in 8.6.0.08.10.190.8117.1.0
Interim mitigation

Apply the vendor patch for CVE-2024-20354 when released. Until then, implement network access controls to limit unauthorized wireless client associations and monitor for anomalous traffic patterns indicative of exploitation attempts.

Fix this in Wireless Lan Controller Software Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
15.0 hours of engineering $2,640
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Scan for this in your stack

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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-2024-20354 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