CVE intelligence and bounded remediation

CVE-2017-12281 — Cisco Aironet 1800 Firmware security vulnerability

High CVSS 7.5

A vulnerability in the implementation of Protected Extensible Authentication Protocol (PEAP) functionality for standalone configurations of Cisco Aironet 1800, 2800, and 3800 Series Access Points could allow an unauthenticated, adjacent attacker to bypass authentication and connect to an affected device. The vulnerability exists because the affected device uses an incorrect default configuration setting of fail open when running in standalone mode. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by attempting to connect to an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to bypass authentication and connect to the affected device. This vulnerability affects Cisco Aironet 1800, 2800, and 3800 Series Access Points that are running a vulnerable software release and use WLAN configuration settings that include FlexConnect local switching and central authentication with MAC filtering. Cisco Bug IDs: CSCvd46314.

Severity
High
CVSS
7.5 (3.0)
Published
2017-11-02
CISA KEV
Not currently listed
Ecosystem
operating-system
Weaknesses
CWE-287

Affected products

  • cisco / aironet_1800_firmware
  • cisco / aironet_2800_firmware
  • cisco / aironet_3800_firmware

Matched remediation archetype

Authentication bypass and missing authentication

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Check exposure

  • Map every affected endpoint and protocol path, including alternate ports, legacy routes, recovery flows, service accounts, and machine-to-machine access.
  • Confirm which deployments enable the affected authentication mode and whether the interface is reachable from untrusted networks.
  • Review session, token, credential, and proxy trust configuration without attempting account takeover.

Remediate safely

  • Apply the supported fix and centralize fail-closed authentication before protected request handling.
  • Remove default or embedded credentials, rotate affected secrets and sessions, and bind authentication decisions to the intended audience and channel.
  • Add negative tests for alternate routes, malformed or absent credentials, recovery flows, and proxy-derived identity.

Authoritative sources

Complete CVE record and remediation plan

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