A vulnerability in Cisco Aironet Access Points (APs) could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to cause a denial of service (DoS) on an affected device. The vulnerability is due to improper resource management while processing specific packets. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a series of crafted UDP packets to a specific port on an affected device. A successful exploit could either allow the attacker to tear down the connection between the AP and the wireless LAN controller, resulting in the affected device not being able to process client traffic, or cause the vulnerable device to reload, triggering a DoS condition. After the attack, the affected device should automatically recover its normal functions without manual intervention.
The product does not properly control the allocation and maintenance of a limited resource.
| Name | Vendor | Start Version | End Version |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wireless_lan_controller | Cisco | 8.9 (including) | 8.10.112.0 (excluding) |
| Wireless_lan_controller_software | Cisco | * | 8.5.161.0 (excluding) |
| Wireless_lan_controller_software | Cisco | 8.6 (including) | 8.8.130.0 (excluding) |
Mitigation of resource exhaustion attacks requires that the target system either:
The first of these solutions is an issue in itself though, since it may allow attackers to prevent the use of the system by a particular valid user. If the attacker impersonates the valid user, they may be able to prevent the user from accessing the server in question.
The second solution is simply difficult to effectively institute – and even when properly done, it does not provide a full solution. It simply makes the attack require more resources on the part of the attacker.