CVE-2023-45624
📋 TL;DR
An unauthenticated Denial-of-Service vulnerability in the soft AP daemon accessed via PAPI protocol allows attackers to disrupt affected access points without authentication. This affects Aruba access points running vulnerable software versions, potentially causing service interruptions for connected devices.
💻 Affected Systems
- Aruba Access Points with soft AP daemon
📦 What is this software?
Arubaos by Arubanetworks
Arubaos by Arubanetworks
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Complete service disruption of affected access points, rendering wireless networks unavailable for extended periods until manual intervention or reboot.
Likely Case
Temporary service interruption causing dropped connections and degraded network performance for wireless clients.
If Mitigated
Minimal impact if access points are patched or protected by network segmentation and access controls.
🎯 Exploit Status
Unauthenticated DoS suggests relatively simple exploitation via crafted PAPI protocol requests
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: Check Aruba advisory ARUBA-PSA-2023-017 for specific patched versions
Vendor Advisory: https://www.arubanetworks.com/assets/alert/ARUBA-PSA-2023-017.txt
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Review Aruba advisory ARUBA-PSA-2023-017. 2. Identify affected AP models and versions. 3. Download and apply appropriate firmware updates from Aruba support portal. 4. Reboot affected access points after patching.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Network Segmentation
allRestrict network access to PAPI protocol on affected access points
Access Control Lists
allImplement ACLs to limit which systems can communicate with AP management interfaces
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement strict network segmentation to isolate AP management interfaces
- Deploy intrusion prevention systems to detect and block DoS attempts against PAPI protocol
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check AP firmware version against affected versions listed in Aruba advisory ARUBA-PSA-2023-017Check Version:
show version (on Aruba AP CLI) or check via Aruba Central/Aruba AirWaveVerify Fix Applied:
Verify AP firmware version has been updated to patched version specified in Aruba advisory📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Unusual PAPI protocol traffic patterns
- AP daemon crash/restart events
- Increased error rates on AP management interfaces
Network Indicators:
- Abnormal PAPI protocol traffic volume
- AP management interface unresponsive to legitimate requests
SIEM Query:
source="aruba_ap" AND (event_type="crash" OR protocol="PAPI" AND traffic_volume>threshold)