# CVE-2012-5991: Denial of service in n/a

> Remote authenticated users can cause a denial of service on Cisco Wireless LAN Controllers by sending a specific request to the web authentication interface.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.3 (`AV:N/AC:M/Au:S/C:N/I:N/A:C`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 19 Dec 2012
- **Updated:** 16 Sep 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-6hqg-ghvh-32h4

## What is CVE-2012-5991?

CVE-2012-5991 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Cisco Wireless Lan Controller Software, published on 19 Dec 2012. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

screens/base/web_auth_custom.html on Cisco Wireless LAN Controller (WLC) devices with software 7.2.110.0 allows remote authenticated users to cause a denial of service (device reload) via a certain buttonClicked value in an internal webauth_type request, aka Bug ID CSCud50209.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2012-5991?

It affects 9 products.


Products: Cisco 2000 Wireless Lan Controller, Cisco 2100 Wireless Lan Controller, Cisco 2500 Wireless Lan Controller, Cisco 4100 Wireless Lan Controller, Cisco 4400 Wireless Lan Controller, Cisco 5500 Wireless Lan Controller, Cisco 7500 Wireless Lan Controller, Cisco 8500 Wireless Lan Controller, Cisco Wireless Lan Controller Software.

## How do I fix CVE-2012-5991?

No fix has been published for CVE-2012-5991 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2012-5991 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2012-5991 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Public exploit code:

- Cisco Wireless Lan Controller 7.2.110.0 - Multiple Vulnerabilities (exploitdb)

## Other vulnerabilities in Cisco Wireless Lan Controller Software

- [CVE-2012-0371](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2012-0371/): Missing authorization in n/a (critical 9.3)
- [CVE-2013-1104](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-1104/): Code injection in n/a (critical 9.0)
- [CVE-2013-1105](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-1105/): Missing authorization in n/a (critical 9.0)
- [CVE-2013-1102](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-1102/): Denial of service in n/a (high 7.8)
- [CVE-2013-1103](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2013-1103/): Denial of service in n/a (high 7.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2012-5991 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2012-5991 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in Cisco Wireless Lan Controller Software, published on 19 Dec 2012. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2012-5991 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Cisco Wireless Lan Controller Software. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2012-5991/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2012-5991/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2012-5991
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2012-5991
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2012-5991

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2012-5991/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.