A vulnerability in the networking component of Cisco access point (AP) software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to cause a temporary disruption of service. This vulnerability is due to overuse of AP resources. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by connecting to an AP on an affected device as a wireless client and sending a high rate of traffic over an extended period of time. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause the Datagram TLS (DTLS) session to tear down and reset, causing a denial of service (DoS) condition.
The product does not properly control the allocation and maintenance of a limited resource.
| Name | Vendor | Start Version | End Version |
|---|---|---|---|
| Catalyst_9166_firmware | Cisco | * | 17.6.6 (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.