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CVE Record

CVE-2019-15261: Cisco Aironet Access Points Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol Denial of Service Vulnerability

A vulnerability in the Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP) VPN packet processing functionality in Cisco Aironet Access Points (APs) could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to cause an affected device to reload, resulting in a denial of service (DoS) condition. The vulnerability is due to insufficient validation of Generic Routing Encapsulation (GRE) frames that pass through the data plane of an affected AP. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by associating to a vulnerable AP, initiating a PPTP VPN connection to an arbitrary PPTP VPN server, and sending a malicious GRE frame through the data plane of the AP. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause an internal process of the targeted AP to crash, which in turn would cause the AP to reload. The AP reload would cause a DoS condition for clients that are associated with the AP.

HighCVSS 8.6Not KEV-listedUpdated
Glexia's TakeAutomated analysishigh

Security readout for executives and security teams

Plain-English summary

This flaw can make affected Cisco Aironet access points reboot, interrupting wireless service for connected users. It does not expose data or change systems, but it can disrupt business operations that depend on those APs. The source bundle reports high severity and a CVSS 3.0 score of 8.6.

Executive priority

Prioritize remediation for sites where wireless availability is business-critical, such as offices, warehouses, retail, healthcare, or operations floors. This is an availability risk rather than a data-theft issue, but repeated AP reloads can create visible business disruption.

Technical view

CVE-2019-15261 is an input-validation flaw in Cisco Aironet AP software handling PPTP VPN-related GRE frames through the AP data plane. A remote unauthenticated attacker with wireless association to a vulnerable AP could trigger an internal process crash and AP reload, causing denial of service for associated clients.

Likely exposure

Exposure is most likely in Cisco Aironet Access Point Software deployments where affected APs allow client association and PPTP/GRE traffic can traverse the data plane. The provided sources do not specify exact affected versions, so asset/version confirmation against Cisco guidance is required.

Exploitation context

The CVE source says exploitation requires association to a vulnerable AP and malicious GRE traffic related to PPTP processing. The source bundle does not report CISA KEV listing or active exploitation. Treat exploit status as unconfirmed from the provided evidence.

Researcher notes

The core weakness is CWE-20, insufficient validation of GRE frames in PPTP-related packet processing. The public bundle gives the attack precondition and impact but not exact affected versions or fixed releases. Use Cisco's advisory as the authoritative source for product/version scoping.

Mitigation direction

  • Review Cisco's advisory for affected releases and fixed software guidance.
  • Upgrade or remediate affected Aironet AP software according to Cisco guidance.
  • Restrict wireless association to trusted users where business operations permit.
  • Monitor for repeated AP reloads until remediation is complete.

Validation and detection

  • Inventory Cisco Aironet APs and record installed software versions.
  • Compare discovered versions against Cisco's advisory and CVE records.
  • Review controller or AP logs for unexplained reloads and client outages.
  • Confirm whether PPTP/GRE traffic is present on relevant WLANs.
  • Rescan after remediation to verify the CVE is no longer reported.
Prepared
Confidence
medium
Sources
3

Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.

Potential ATT&CK relevance

Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context

These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.

ATT&CK lookup starting points

Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.

cwe · low confidence lookup

CWE-20: Exact CWE lookup

Use the exact CWE identifier as the starting point before reviewing related ATT&CK behavior. Open the exact CWE lookup page first, then review the ATT&CK searches from that MITRE weakness context. This is a Glexia lookup hint, not an official ATT&CK mapping.

Open ATT&CK lookup
cve · low confidence lookup

CVE-2019-15261 mapping review

Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.

Open ATT&CK lookup
Vulnerability profileCVE Program record
Severity
High
CVSS
8.6 (3.0)
Known Exploited
No
Published

Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H

Official CVE source material

CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5

These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.

1CVSS vectors
0Timeline events
0ADP providers
2Source links

CVSS vector scores

1 official score

We collect every scored CVSS vector available in the official CNA and ADP containers. When more than one version is present, the table keeps the source vectors side by side instead of collapsing them into the highest score.

ScoreVersionSeverityVectorExploitImpactSource
8.6CVSS 3.0HighCVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H3.94Primary CVE score

Vulnerability scoring details

Base CVSS 3.0 score

8.6High
CVSS 3.0 vector shape for CVE-2019-15261Attack VectorAttack ComplexityPrivileges RequiredUser InteractionScopeConfidentiality ImpactIntegrity ImpactAvailability Impact

Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H

Attack Vector
NetworkAdjacentLocalPhysical
Attack Complexity
LowHigh
Privileges Required
NoneLowHigh
User Interaction
NoneRequired
Scope
ChangedUnchanged
Confidentiality Impact
HighLowNone
Integrity Impact
HighLowNone
Availability Impact
HighLowNone
Affected products

Products and packages named in the record

VendorProductVersion / packageStatus
CiscoCisco Aironet Access Point SoftwareunspecifiedListed
Weakness

CWE details

CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.

CWE-20 · source CWE mapping

Improper Input Validation

Improper Input Validation represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.