Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
This flaw can let an unauthenticated remote attacker crash an affected Cisco wireless device by sending malformed CAPWAP traffic. The business impact is wireless service disruption, not data theft. The available source bundle does not show active exploitation or confirmed public weaponization.
Executive priority
Prioritize remediation where wireless availability supports business operations, branch connectivity, retail, healthcare, or campus networks. This is not a confidentiality issue, but a successful attack can disrupt wireless service until devices restart and recover.
Technical view
CVE-2020-3262 is an insufficient input validation issue in Cisco WLC Software's CAPWAP protocol handler. A malformed CAPWAP packet can trigger a device restart, causing denial of service. CVSS v3.0 is 8.6 with network attack vector, low complexity, no privileges, no user interaction, and high availability impact.
Likely exposure
Exposure is most likely where affected Cisco wireless controller or Aironet access point software is deployed and CAPWAP handling is reachable from untrusted or poorly segmented networks. The source bundle has product naming tension between WLC Software and Aironet Access Point Software, so asset validation should use the Cisco advisory.
Exploitation context
The CVE description states exploitation requires malformed CAPWAP packets sent remotely without authentication. The source bundle marks KEV as false and provides no evidence of active exploitation. Treat this as a high-availability risk, especially for sites dependent on Cisco-managed wireless access.
Researcher notes
The source bundle supports DoS through malformed CAPWAP packet handling and CWE-20 input validation. It does not include exploit details, observed exploitation, or specific fixed release data. Product scope should be verified against Cisco's advisory before concluding exposure.
Mitigation direction
- Review Cisco advisory for affected releases and fixed software guidance.
- Prioritize updates for internet-exposed or weakly segmented wireless control planes.
- Limit CAPWAP reachability to trusted controller and access point networks.
- Monitor affected devices for unexpected restarts or repeated CAPWAP errors.
Validation and detection
- Inventory Cisco wireless controllers and Aironet access point software versions.
- Compare deployed versions against the Cisco advisory's affected software list.
- Confirm CAPWAP traffic is not reachable from untrusted networks.
- Review device logs for unexpected reloads around suspicious CAPWAP traffic.
Public sources used
Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.
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-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 lookupCVE-2020-3262 mapping review
Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.
Open ATT&CK lookup- 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
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.
CVSS vector scores
1 official scoreWe 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.
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H3.94Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.0 score
8.6HighVector: CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- 20200415 Cisco Wireless LAN Controller CAPWAP Denial of Service VulnerabilityCVE reference · vendor-advisory, x_refsource_CISCO
Products and packages named in the record
CWE details
CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.
Improper Input Validation
Improper Input Validation represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.