# CVE-2017-12226: Privilege escalation in Cisco IOS XE

> Authenticated attackers can elevate privileges to administrator on Cisco Wireless Controllers by manipulating GUI connection states, gaining full device control.

- **Severity:** High 8.8 (`CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **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:** 28 Sep 2017
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-4768-jwrj-c8p2

## What is CVE-2017-12226?

CVE-2017-12226 is a high-severity vulnerability in Cisco Ios Xe, published on 28 Sep 2017. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

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.

Weakness: CWE-20 (Improper Input Validation), CWE-264

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2017-12226?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Cisco Ios Xe.

## How do I fix CVE-2017-12226?

No fix has been published for CVE-2017-12226 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2017-12226 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2017-12226 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Cisco Ios Xe

- [CVE-2023-20198](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-20198/): Cisco IOS XE Web UI Privilege Escalation (critical 10.0, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2018-0151](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-0151/): Cisco IOS Software and Cisco IOS XE Software Quality of Service Remote Code Execution (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2023-20273](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-20273/): Cisco IOS XE Web UI Command Injection (high 7.2, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2025-20188](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-20188/): Hardcoded credentials in Cisco IOS XE Software (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2021-34770](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-34770/): Cisco IOS XE Software for Catalyst 9000 Family Wireless Controllers CAPWAP Remote Code Execution Vulnerability (critical 10.0)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2017-12226 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2017-12226 is a high-severity vulnerability in Cisco Ios Xe, published on 28 Sep 2017. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2017-12226 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Cisco Ios Xe. 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-2017-12226/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-12226/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2017-12226
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2017-12226
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2017-12226

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-12226/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.