Cisco IOS XE Software for Embedded Wireless Controllers on Catalyst Access Points Privilege Escalation Vulnerability

A vulnerability in the self-healing functionality of Cisco IOS XE Software for Embedded Wireless Controllers on Catalyst Access Points could allow an authenticated, local attacker to escape the restricted controller shell and execute arbitrary commands on the underlying operating system of the access point.

This vulnerability is due to improper checks throughout the restart of certain system processes. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by logging on to an affected device and executing certain CLI commands. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary commands on the underlying OS as root. To successfully exploit this vulnerability, an attacker would need valid credentials for a privilege level 15 user of the wireless controller.

Cisco has released software updates that address this vulnerability. There are no workarounds that address this vulnerability.

This advisory is available at the following link:
https://sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-ewc-priv-esc-nderYLtK [“https://sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-ewc-priv-esc-nderYLtK”]

This advisory is part of the September 2022 release of the Cisco IOS and IOS XE Software Security Advisory Bundled Publication. For a complete list of the advisories and links to them, see Cisco Event Response: September 2022 Semiannual Cisco IOS and IOS XE Software Security Advisory Bundled Publication. [“https://sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/viewErp.x?alertId=ERP-74745”]