CVE-2022-37889 in InstantOS
Summary
by MITRE • 10/07/2022
There are buffer overflow vulnerabilities in multiple underlying services that could lead to unauthenticated remote code execution by sending specially crafted packets destined to the PAPI (Aruba Networks AP management protocol) UDP port (8211). Successful exploitation of these vulnerabilities results in the ability to execute arbitrary code as a privileged user on the underlying operating system of Aruba InstantOS 6.4.x: 6.4.4.8-4.2.4.20 and below; Aruba InstantOS 6.5.x: 6.5.4.23 and below; Aruba InstantOS 8.6.x: 8.6.0.18 and below; Aruba InstantOS 8.7.x: 8.7.1.9 and below; Aruba InstantOS 8.10.x: 8.10.0.1 and below; ArubaOS 10.3.x: 10.3.1.0 and below; Aruba has released upgrades for Aruba InnstantOS that address these security vulnerabilities.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 06/19/2026
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2022-37889 represents a critical buffer overflow flaw affecting Aruba Networks wireless access point management infrastructure. This vulnerability exists within the PAPI (Aruba Networks AP management protocol) service that operates on UDP port 8211, making it particularly dangerous as it allows unauthenticated remote code execution without requiring any prior login credentials or network access privileges. The affected systems span multiple versions of Aruba InstantOS and ArubaOS, including versions 6.4.x through 8.10.x and 10.3.x, indicating this flaw has been present across several major releases and represents a significant security gap in the vendor's wireless infrastructure management systems.
The technical nature of this vulnerability stems from improper input validation within the PAPI protocol implementation, where specially crafted network packets can overflow buffer boundaries in the underlying service processes. This buffer overflow condition occurs when the system receives malformed data packets destined for the UDP port 8211, causing memory corruption that can be exploited to gain control over the affected device's operating system. The flaw specifically affects the privileged execution context of the underlying operating system, meaning successful exploitation grants attackers the ability to execute arbitrary code with the highest available privileges, effectively compromising the entire device and potentially providing a foothold for broader network infiltration.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends far beyond individual device compromise, as wireless access points serve as critical network infrastructure components that often control network access, authentication, and traffic management for entire enterprise environments. Attackers exploiting this vulnerability can gain complete administrative control over affected access points, potentially enabling them to intercept network traffic, modify authentication processes, redirect network traffic, or establish persistent backdoors within the network infrastructure. The unauthenticated nature of the exploit means that any attacker with network access to the affected UDP port can potentially compromise these devices, making the attack surface extremely broad and difficult to defend against through traditional network segmentation approaches.
From a cybersecurity framework perspective, this vulnerability maps directly to CWE-121, which describes buffer overflow conditions in stack-based buffers, and aligns with ATT&CK technique T1059.007 for command and scripting interpreter. The vulnerability also demonstrates characteristics of privilege escalation and remote code execution, commonly associated with ATT&CK techniques T1068 and T1075. Organizations should immediately implement network segmentation to block access to UDP port 8211 from untrusted networks, deploy network monitoring solutions to detect anomalous packet patterns targeting this specific port, and ensure all affected devices are updated to the latest firmware versions provided by Aruba. The vulnerability's presence across multiple operating system versions indicates the need for comprehensive vulnerability management programs that can track and remediate similar issues across heterogeneous network infrastructure components.