HPE AOS-Switch: Authentication bypass in management interface
Summary
Hewlett Packard Enterprise AOS-Switch (AOS-S) contains an authentication bypass in its management interface. An unauthenticated remote attacker can circumvent authentication if certain preconditions outside the attacker's control are met, which could lead to unauthorized access to the affected switch. The CVSS 3.1 base score is 9.8 (critical), and HPE has not published the preconditions.
Affected
- HPE AOS-Switch (AOS-S) 16.11.0000 to 16.11.0031 (per CVE record; HPE advisory HPESBNW05156)
- Releases before 16.11.0000: Unknown.
- Affected interface (web GUI, CLI or other service): Unknown.
Fixed in
- Vendor-confirmed fixed version: Unknown in the HPE advisory text retrieved.
- A third-party tracker states that AOS-S 16.11.0032 or later fixes this issue. Verify on HPE advisory HPESBNW05156 before rollout.
Workaround
- No workaround listed by HPE in the retrieved text. Unknown whether one exists.
- Restrict access to the management interface to a dedicated management VLAN or VPN until patched.
Exploitation
- CISA SSVC: exploitation none, automatable yes, technical impact total.
- Not listed in CISA KEV per the CVE record snapshot.
- No public proof of concept or in-the-wild exploitation found in research. This reflects the absence of evidence in our search, not a vendor confirmation.
Our recommendation
- Inventory all AOS-S switches and their firmware versions.
- Confirm that no management ports are reachable from the internet, guest networks or user networks.
- Patch according to HPE advisory HPESBNW05156 after verifying the fixed version.
- Monitor management interface logs for unexpected logins and changes.
- Check the sibling issue CVE-2026-76742 in the same bulletin.
Public exploits
PoC-in-GitHub, Metasploit and Exploit-DB list nothing for this CVE.
Research sources
- HPE Security Bulletin HPESBNW05156 support.hpe.com
- HPE CSAF advisory HPESBNW05156 csaf.arubanetworking.hpe.com
- CCB Belgium advisory ccb.belgium.be
- OpenCVE CVE-2026-76743 app.opencve.io
- Ionix threat center CVE-2026-76743 (third-party, fixed version unverified) www.ionix.io
Researched and written up in English and German by an AI (Claude by Anthropic) based on NVD, CISA, EPSS and the sources listed. The vendor information is authoritative. Researched on 30 Oct 2026, 21:02.
Original description (NVD)
A vulnerability have been identified in the management interface of AOS-S that could potentially allow an unauthenticated remote attacker to circumvent existing authentication controls if certain preconditions outside of the attacker's control are met. Successful exploitation could allow an attacker to gain unauthorized access to the affected system.
Sources
The tracker combines official, freely usable data sources – updated continuously:
- NVD (NIST) – CVEs, rating (CVSS), affected products
- CISA KEV – vulnerabilities confirmed by CISA as actively exploited
- CISA Vulnrichment – CISA assessment (SSVC) in the official CVE record
- FIRST EPSS – probability of exploitation
- Microsoft MSRC – Patch Tuesday: vulnerabilities, severity, updates
- PoC-in-GitHub – public proof-of-concept repositories
- Metasploit (Rapid7) – modules of the Metasploit Framework
- Exploit-DB (OffSec) – archive of public exploits (links only)
- Patch days: official vendor pages (linked per vendor) (Vendor patch days)
This product uses data from the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. EPSS data © FIRST.org.
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