HPE ArubaOS 8: Unauthenticated command injection via PAPI protocol
Summary
Command injection vulnerabilities in HPE ArubaOS 8 (AOS-8) allow an unauthenticated remote attacker to execute arbitrary code by sending specially crafted PAPI packets. The attacker would gain code execution as a privileged user on the underlying operating system. The attack path is the PAPI protocol (UDP port 8211), so the risk is highest where this port is reachable from untrusted networks.
Affected
- AOS-8 8.13.0.0 to 8.13.3.0
- AOS-8 8.10.0.0 to 8.10.0.23
- Status of the 8.12 branch: unresolved, verify with HPE
- AOS-10 is not affected by this CVE according to the available information
Fixed in
- AOS-8 8.13.3.1 or later
- AOS-8 8.10.0.24 or later
- Versions for the 8.12 branch: unknown, confirm with HPE
Workaround
- No vendor workaround specific to this CVE is known.
- HPE general guidance: restrict command line and web management interfaces to a dedicated Layer 2 segment or VLAN, apply Layer 3 firewall controls, and enable accounting controls.
- Restrict UDP port 8211 (PAPI) to known access points and management hosts until patched (recommendation, not stated by HPE for this CVE).
Exploitation
- No evidence of exploitation in the wild found.
- Not listed in the CISA KEV catalogue as of 24 Oct 2026 (secondary source; recheck).
- No public proof of concept found.
- CISA SSVC: exploitation none, automatable no, technical impact total.
Our recommendation
- Inventory all AOS-8 controllers, gateways and Instant access points and record build numbers.
- Upgrade to AOS-8 8.13.3.1 or 8.10.0.24 or later; plan systems on the 8.12 branch separately and confirm the fix with HPE.
- Until patched, restrict UDP 8211 and management interfaces to trusted hosts only.
- Confirm that controllers and the PAPI port are not reachable from the internet.
Public exploits
PoC-in-GitHub, Metasploit and Exploit-DB list nothing for this CVE.
Research sources
- HPE Security Bulletin HPESBNW05162 support.hpe.com
- VulDB entry 425527 vuldb.com
- VulDB CVE-2026-79890 vuldb.com
- Cyberpress: Critical HPE Aruba AOS-8 vulnerability cyberpress.org
- Rescana: HPE Aruba AOS advisory update www.rescana.com
- Cybaverse: HPE Aruba AOS critical flaws www.cybaverse.co.uk
- Cyberexperts: Aruba AOS wireless patches cyberexperts.com
- Offseq radar: CVE-2026-79890 radar.offseq.com
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 1 Nov 2026, 18:05.
Original description (NVD)
There are command injection vulnerabilities in AOS-8 that could lead to unauthenticated remote code execution by sending specially crafted PAPI packets. Successful exploitation of this vulnerability results in the ability to execute arbitrary code as a privileged user on the underlying operating 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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