CVE-2018-15395 | Cisco Wireless LAN Controller Software Privilege Escalation Vulnerability

A vulnerability in the authentication and authorization checking mechanisms of Cisco Wireless LAN Controller (WLC) Software could allow an authenticated, adjacent attacker to gain network access to a Cisco TrustSec domain. Under normal circumstances, this access should be prohibited. The vulnerability is due to the dynamic assignment of Security Group Tags (SGTs) during a wireless roam from one Service Set Identifier (SSID) to another within the Cisco TrustSec domain. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by attempting to acquire an SGT from other SSIDs within the domain. Successful exploitation could allow the attacker to gain privileged network access that should be prohibited under normal circumstances.

Published: 2018-10-17 Last update: 2024-11-21 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2018-15395 is rated Low Risk (37.2/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.58%). Mandatory action: Monitor for updates and reassess as exploit intelligence or EPSS changes.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2018-15395

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-06-15 0.10% 0.58% +0.48%
2 2025-03-17 0.05% 0.10% +0.06%
3 2024-12-17 0.05%

Full EPSS history (7 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2018-15395

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
5.4 3.0 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.0/AV:A/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:A)
Attacker has to be nearby on the network—same office, same link, that vibe—not the whole wide internet.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:C)
Breaking this can reach past the original component and bite other resources—bigger blast radius.
Confidentiality (C:L)
Some sensitive info could get out, but not a total data dump.
Integrity (I:L)
Attackers could change some data, but it’s limited—not everything goes.
Availability (A:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.
2.3 2.7 [email protected]
5.4 3.0 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.0/AV:A/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:A)
Attacker has to be nearby on the network—same office, same link, that vibe—not the whole wide internet.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:C)
Breaking this can reach past the original component and bite other resources—bigger blast radius.
Confidentiality (C:L)
Some sensitive info could get out, but not a total data dump.
Integrity (I:L)
Attackers could change some data, but it’s limited—not everything goes.
Availability (A:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.
2.3 2.7 [email protected]
2.7 2.0 LOW
AV:A/AC:L/Au:S/C:P/I:N/A:N Click to expand
Access vector (AV:A)
Requires access to an adjacent network segment.
Access complexity (AC:L)
Exploitation conditions are straightforward and predictable.
Authentication (AU:S)
A single authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:P)
Partial confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:N)
No integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:N)
No availability impact.
5.1 2.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2018-15395

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2018-15395

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
cisco wireless_lan_controller_software 8.5\(120.0\) cpe:2.3:o:cisco:wireless_lan_controller_software:8.5\(120.0\):*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2018-15395

cvelogic Threat Intelligence