Summary

• A vulnerability in the Day One setup process of Cisco IOS XE Software for Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controllers for Cloud (9800-CL) could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to access the public-key infrastructure (PKI) server that is running on an affected device.

  This vulnerability is due to incomplete cleanup upon completion of the Day One setup process. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending Simple Certificate Enrollment Protocol (SCEP) requests to an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to request a certificate from the virtual wireless controller and then use the acquired certificate to join an attacker-controlled device to the virtual wireless controller.

  Cisco has released software updates that address this vulnerability. There are workarounds that address this vulnerability.

  This advisory is available at the following link:
  https://sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-9800cl-openscep-SB4xtxzP

  This advisory is part of the September 2025 release of the Cisco IOS and IOS XE Software Security Advisory Bundled Publication. For a complete list of the advisories and links to them, see Cisco Event Response: September 2025 Semiannual Cisco IOS and IOS XE Software Security Advisory Bundled Publication.

Affected Products

• Vulnerable Products

  At the time of publication, this vulnerability affected Cisco IOS XE Software for Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controllers for Cloud, regardless of device configuration.

  For information about which Cisco software releases are vulnerable, see the Fixed Software section of this advisory.

  Products Confirmed Not Vulnerable

  Only products listed in the Vulnerable Products section of this advisory are known to be affected by this vulnerability.

  Cisco has confirmed that this vulnerability does not affect Cisco IOS XE Software for Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Hardware-based Controllers.

Workarounds

• There is a workaround that addresses this vulnerability. An administrator can shut down the hostname_WLC_CA PKI server that has a hostname that matches the hostname of the wireless LAN controller (WLC). The following output shows the necessary steps to follow in an example where the WLC hostname is vewlc:

  vewlc# conf t
  vewlc(config)# crypto pki server vewlc_WLC_CA
  vewlc(cs-server)# shutdown
  vewlc(cs-server)# exit 
  vewlc# write memory

  While this workaround has been deployed and was proven successful in a test environment, customers should determine the applicability and effectiveness in their own environment and under their own use conditions. Customers should be aware that any workaround or mitigation that is implemented may negatively impact the functionality or performance of their network based on intrinsic customer deployment scenarios and limitations. Customers should not deploy any workarounds or mitigations before first evaluating the applicability to their own environment and any impact to such environment.

Fixed Software

• Cisco considers any workarounds and mitigations to be temporary solutions until an upgrade to a fixed software release is available. To fully remediate this vulnerability and avoid future exposure as described in this advisory, Cisco strongly recommends that customers upgrade to the fixed software indicated in this advisory.

  Cisco IOS and IOS XE Software

  To help customers determine their exposure to vulnerabilities in Cisco IOS and IOS XE Software, Cisco provides the Cisco Software Checker. This tool identifies any Cisco security advisories that impact a specific software release and the earliest release that fixes the vulnerabilities that are described in each advisory (“First Fixed”). If applicable, the tool also returns the earliest release that fixes all the vulnerabilities that are described in all the advisories that the Software Checker identifies (“Combined First Fixed”). 

  To use the tool, go to the Cisco Software Checker page and follow the instructions. Alternatively, use the following form to determine whether a release is affected by any Cisco Security Advisory. To use the form, follow these steps:

  1. Choose which advisories the tool will search—only this advisory, only advisories with a Critical or High Security Impact Rating (SIR), or all advisories.
  2. Enter a release number—for example, 15.9(3)M2 or 17.3.3.
  3. Click Check.

   

  Only this advisory All Critical and High advisories All advisories

   

Exploitation and Public Announcements

• The Cisco Product Security Incident Response Team (PSIRT) is not aware of any public announcements or malicious use of the vulnerabilities that are described in this advisory.

Source

• This vulnerability was found during internal security testing.

URL

• https://sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-9800cl-openscep-SB4xtxzP

Revision History

• Version	Description	Section	Status	Date
  1.0	Initial public release.	—	Final	2025-SEP-24

  Show Less

---