Cisco IOS XE Wireless CNTRL DoS via malformed CAPWAP
CVE-2026-20086 Published on March 25, 2026

A vulnerability in the processing of Control and Provisioning of Wireless Access Points (CAPWAP) packets of Cisco IOS XE Wireless Controller Software for the Catalyst CW9800 Family could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to cause a denial of service (DoS) condition on an affected device. This vulnerability is due to improper handling of a malformed CAPWAP packet. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a malformed CAPWAP packet to an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause the affected device to reload unexpectedly, resulting in a DoS condition.

NVD

Vulnerability Analysis

CVE-2026-20086 is exploitable with network access, and does not require authorization privileges or user interaction. This vulnerability is considered to have a low attack complexity. The potential impact of an exploit of this vulnerability is considered to have no impact on confidentiality and integrity, and a high impact on availability.

Attack Vector:
NETWORK
Attack Complexity:
LOW
Privileges Required:
NONE
User Interaction:
NONE
Scope:
CHANGED
Confidentiality Impact:
NONE
Integrity Impact:
NONE
Availability Impact:
HIGH

Weakness Type

Improper Handling of Missing Values

The software does not handle or incorrectly handles when a parameter, field, or argument name is specified, but the associated value is missing, i.e. it is empty, blank, or null.


Products Associated with CVE-2026-20086

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Cisco IOS XE
 

Affected Versions

Cisco IOS XE Software: