CVE-2019-1796 | Cisco Wireless LAN Controller Software IAPP Message Handling Denial of Service Vulnerabilities

A vulnerability in the handling of Inter-Access Point Protocol (IAPP) messages by Cisco Wireless LAN Controller (WLC) Software could allow an unauthenticated, adjacent attacker to cause a denial of service (DoS) condition. The vulnerability exist because the software improperly validates input on fields within IAPP messages. An attacker could exploit the vulnerability by sending malicious IAPP messages to an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause the Cisco WLC Software to reload, resulting in a DoS condition. Software versions prior to 8.2.170.0, 8.5.150.0, and 8.8.100.0 are affected.

Published: 2019-04-18 Last update: 2024-11-21 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2019-1796 is rated Low Risk (37/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.14%). 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-2019-1796

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 2025-03-30 0.18% 0.14% -0.03%
2 2025-03-29 0.07% 0.18% +0.11%
3 2023-03-07 0.07%

Full EPSS history (7 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2019-1796

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
6.5 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H 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:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
2.8 3.6 [email protected]
7.4 3.0 HIGH
CVSS:3.0/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H 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:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
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:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
2.8 4.0 [email protected]
6.1 2.0 MEDIUM
AV:A/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:C 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:N)
No authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:N)
No confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:N)
No integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:C)
Complete availability impact.
6.5 6.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2019-1796

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2019-1796

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
cisco wireless_lan_controller < 8.2.170.0 cpe:2.3:a:cisco:wireless_lan_controller:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco wireless_lan_controller_software >= 8.3.143.0, < 8.5.150.0 cpe:2.3:o:cisco:wireless_lan_controller_software:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco wireless_lan_controller_software >= 8.7.106.0, < 8.8.100.0 cpe:2.3:o:cisco:wireless_lan_controller_software:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2019-1796

cvelogic Threat Intelligence