Stack-based Buffer OverflowWeakness · CWE-121

CVE-2024-33512

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-05-01
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
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 is a buffer overflow vulnerability in the underlying Local User Authentication Database service 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 this vulnerability results 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

A buffer overflow vulnerability exists in the Local User Authentication Database service of Aruba's access point management infrastructure. An unauthenticated remote attacker can send specially crafted packets to the PAPI UDP port (8211) to trigger the overflow and achieve remote code execution as a privileged user on the underlying operating system.

MitigationApply the vendor-supplied firmware/software patches for CVE-2024-33512 to all affected Aruba devices. If patching is immediately infeasible, consider network segmentation to restrict access to UDP port 8211 from untrusted sources.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

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 Aruba device model
    Log into the device CLI or web interface and run 'show version' or check the device information page to confirm the exact model number of the Aruba access point or controller.
    Affected if The device is not an Aruba product - this CVE only applies to Aruba devices.
  2. Check the installed firmware version
    Run 'show version' in the CLI or check the firmware version in the web interface. Compare this version against Aruba's official release notes for CVE-2024-33512.
    Affected if The installed firmware version falls within the vulnerable version range and has not been patched.
  3. Verify UDP port 8211 is accessible
    From an external host, run 'nc -uz <device-ip> 8211' or use nmap: 'nmap -sU -p 8211 <device-ip>' to check if the PAPI UDP port responds.
    Affected if Port 8211 is open and responds to UDP probes, indicating the PAPI service is running and reachable.
  4. Confirm management interface exposure
    Check the device configuration for interface bindings: run 'show ip interface' or review the management VLAN configuration to determine if the management interface is exposed to untrusted networks.
    Affected if The management interface (containing port 8211) is reachable from outside the trusted management network.

You are affected if you are running an Aruba device with a vulnerable firmware version AND UDP port 8211 is accessible from an untrusted network.

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 vendor-supplied firmware/software patches for CVE-2024-33512 to all affected Aruba devices. If patching is immediately infeasible, consider network segmentation to restrict access to UDP port 8211 from untrusted sources.

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
11.0 hours of engineering $1,930
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Scan for this in your stack

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dbcve dependency scanner

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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-2024-33512 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