CVE-2023-20268: Cisco Access Point Software Uncontrolled Resource Consumption Vulnerability

Severity: medium (CVSS 4.7 v3.1)
Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
EPSS: 0.3% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
Public exploit or detection template: none known
Published: 2023-09-27 · updated 2026-06-17
Weakness: CWE-400

Description

A vulnerability in the packet processing functionality of Cisco access point (AP) software could allow an unauthenticated, adjacent attacker to exhaust resources on an affected device.  This vulnerability is due to insufficient management of resources when handling certain types of traffic. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a series of specific wireless packets to an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to consume resources on an affected device. A sustained attack could lead to the disruption of the Control and Provisioning of Wireless Access Points (CAPWAP) tunnel and intermittent loss of wireless client traffic.

Affected products

Cisco Business 150Ax Firmware: before 10.6.2.0 — fixed in 10.6.2.0
Cisco Business 151Axm Firmware: before 10.6.2.0 — fixed in 10.6.2.0
Cisco Catalyst 9800 Embedded Wireless Controller Firmware: before 17.3.8; from 17.4.0 before 17.6.6; from 17.8.0 before 17.9.4 — fixed in 17.3.8, 17.6.6, 17.9.4
Cisco Wireless LAN Controller (WLC): before 8.10.190.0 — fixed in 8.10.190.0

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: Cisco Business 150Ax Firmware 10.6.2.0; Cisco Business 151Axm Firmware 10.6.2.0; Cisco Catalyst 9800 Embedded Wireless Controller Firmware 17.3.8, 17.6.6, 17.9.4; Cisco Wireless LAN Controller (WLC) 8.10.190.0. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

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