Vulnerability Database

346,508

Total vulnerabilities in the database

CVE-2017-12226 — cisco / ios_xe

Improper Input Validation

A vulnerability in the web-based Wireless Controller GUI of Cisco IOS XE Software for Cisco 5760 Wireless LAN Controllers, Cisco Catalyst 4500E Supervisor Engine 8-E (Wireless) Switches, and Cisco New Generation Wireless Controllers (NGWC) 3850 could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to elevate their privileges on an affected device. The vulnerability is due to incomplete input validation of HTTP requests by the affected GUI, if the GUI connection state or protocol changes. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by authenticating to the Wireless Controller GUI as a Lobby Administrator user of an affected device and subsequently changing the state or protocol for their connection to the GUI. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to elevate their privilege level to administrator and gain full control of the affected device. This vulnerability affects the following Cisco products if they are running Cisco IOS XE Software Release 3.7.0E, 3.7.1E, 3.7.2E, 3.7.3E, 3.7.4E, or 3.7.5E: Cisco 5760 Wireless LAN Controllers, Cisco Catalyst 4500E Supervisor Engine 8-E (Wireless) Switches, Cisco New Generation Wireless Controllers (NGWC) 3850. Cisco Bug IDs: CSCvd73746.

  • Published: Sep 29, 2017
  • Updated: Nov 9, 2025
  • CVE: CVE-2017-12226
  • Severity: High
  • Exploit:

CVSS v2:

  • Severity: High
  • Score: 9
  • AV:N/AC:L/Au:S/C:C/I:C/A:C

Frequently Asked Questions

A security vulnerability is a weakness in software, hardware, or configuration that can be exploited to compromise confidentiality, integrity, or availability. Many vulnerabilities are tracked as CVEs (Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures), which provide a standardized identifier so teams can coordinate patching, mitigation, and risk assessment across tools and vendors.

CVSS (Common Vulnerability Scoring System) estimates technical severity, but it doesn't automatically equal business risk. Prioritize using context like internet exposure, affected asset criticality, known exploitation (proof-of-concept or in-the-wild), and whether compensating controls exist. A "Medium" CVSS on an exposed, production system can be more urgent than a "Critical" on an isolated, non-production host.

A vulnerability is the underlying weakness. An exploit is the method or code used to take advantage of it. A zero-day is a vulnerability that is unknown to the vendor or has no publicly available fix when attackers begin using it. In practice, risk increases sharply when exploitation becomes reliable or widespread.

Recurring findings usually come from incomplete Asset Discovery, inconsistent patch management, inherited images, and configuration drift. In modern environments, you also need to watch the software supply chain: dependencies, containers, build pipelines, and third-party services can reintroduce the same weakness even after you patch a single host. Unknown or unmanaged assets (often called Shadow IT) are a common reason the same issues resurface.

Use a simple, repeatable triage model: focus first on externally exposed assets, high-value systems (identity, VPN, email, production), vulnerabilities with known exploits, and issues that enable remote code execution or privilege escalation. Then enforce patch SLAs and track progress using consistent metrics so remediation is steady, not reactive.

SynScan combines attack surface monitoring and continuous security auditing to keep your inventory current, flag high-impact vulnerabilities early, and help you turn raw findings into a practical remediation plan.