Summary

• A vulnerability in Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) trap generation for wireless clients of Cisco IOS XE Wireless Controller Software for the Catalyst 9000 Family could allow an unauthenticated, adjacent attacker to cause an affected device to unexpectedly reload, resulting in a denial of service (DoS) condition on the device.

  This vulnerability is due to a lack of input validation of the information used to generate an SNMP trap related to a wireless client connection event. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending an 802.1x packet with crafted parameters during the wireless authentication setup phase of a connection. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause the device to reload, resulting in a DoS condition.

  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-c9800-snmp-trap-dos-mjent3Ey

  This advisory is part of the April 2022 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: April 2022 Semiannual Cisco IOS and IOS XE Software Security Advisory Bundled Publication.

Affected Products

• Vulnerable Products

  This vulnerability affects the following Cisco devices if they are running a vulnerable release of Cisco IOS XE Wireless Controller Software for the Catalyst 9000 Family and are configured to send SNMP traps for wireless client exclusion events (disabled by default):

  • Catalyst 9800 Embedded Wireless Controllers for Catalyst 9300, 9400, and 9500 Series Switches
  • Catalyst 9800 Series Wireless Controllers
  • Catalyst 9800-CL Wireless Controllers for Cloud
  • Embedded Wireless Controllers on Catalyst Access Points

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

  Determine the Device Configuration

  To determine whether any SNMP trapflags for client exclusion events are enabled on a device, log in to the device and run the show running-config | include trapflags client excluded command on the CLI to check for the presence of the trapflags client excluded command in the global configuration. If any output is returned, then the device is considered vulnerable.

  The following example shows the output of the show running-config | include trapflags client excluded command for a device that has SNMP client event trapflags configured:

  Router# show running-config | include trapflags client excluded
  trapflags client excluded

   

  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 the following Cisco products:

  • IOS Software
  • IOS XR Software
  • Meraki products
  • NX-OS Software
  • Wireless LAN Controller (WLC) AireOS Software

Workarounds

• Customers who do not require SNMP traps for wireless-excluded clients can disable them from the CLI with the global configuration command, as shown in the following example:

  WLC(config)#no trapflags client excluded

  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 has released free software updates that address the vulnerability described in this advisory. Customers with service contracts that entitle them to regular software updates should obtain security fixes through their usual update channels.

  Customers may only install and expect support for software versions and feature sets for which they have purchased a license. By installing, downloading, accessing, or otherwise using such software upgrades, customers agree to follow the terms of the Cisco software license:
  https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/end-user-license-agreement.html

  Additionally, customers may only download software for which they have a valid license, procured from Cisco directly, or through a Cisco authorized reseller or partner. In most cases this will be a maintenance upgrade to software that was previously purchased. Free security software updates do not entitle customers to a new software license, additional software feature sets, or major revision upgrades.

  The Cisco Support and Downloads page on Cisco.com provides information about licensing and downloads. This page can also display customer device support coverage for customers who use the My Devices tool.

  When considering software upgrades, customers are advised to regularly consult the advisories for Cisco products, which are available from the Cisco Security Advisories page, to determine exposure and a complete upgrade solution.

  In all cases, customers should ensure that the devices to be upgraded contain sufficient memory and confirm that current hardware and software configurations will continue to be supported properly by the new release. If the information is not clear, customers are advised to contact the Cisco Technical Assistance Center (TAC) or their contracted maintenance providers.

  Customers Without Service Contracts

  Customers who purchase directly from Cisco but do not hold a Cisco service contract and customers who make purchases through third-party vendors but are unsuccessful in obtaining fixed software through their point of sale should obtain upgrades by contacting the Cisco TAC: https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/web/tsd-cisco-worldwide-contacts.html

  Customers should have the product serial number available and be prepared to provide the URL of this advisory as evidence of entitlement to a free upgrade.

  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 to identify any Cisco Security Advisories that impact a specific software release and the earliest release that fixes the vulnerabilities described in each advisory (“First Fixed”). If applicable, the tool also returns the earliest release that fixes all the vulnerabilities described in all the advisories identified (“Combined First Fixed”).

  Customers can use the Cisco Software Checker to search advisories in the following ways:

  • Choose the software and one or more releases
  • Upload a .txt file that includes a list of specific releases
  • Enter the output of the show version command

  After initiating a search, customers can customize the search to include all Cisco Security Advisories, a specific advisory, or all advisories in the most recent bundled publication.

  Customers can also use the following form to determine whether a release is affected by any Cisco Security Advisory by entering a Cisco IOS or IOS XE Software release—for example, 15.1(4)M2 or 3.13.8S:

  By default, the Cisco Software Checker includes results only for vulnerabilities that have a Critical or High Security Impact Rating (SIR). To include results for Medium SIR vulnerabilities, customers can use the Cisco Software Checker on Cisco.com and check the Medium check box in the drop-down list under Impact Rating when customizing a search.

Exploitation and Public Announcements

• The Cisco Product Security Incident Response Team (PSIRT) is not aware of any public announcements or malicious use of the vulnerability that is 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-c9800-snmp-trap-dos-mjent3Ey

Revision History

• Version	Description	Section	Status	Date
  1.0	Initial public release.	—	Final	2022-APR-13

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