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Firepower Threat Defense CVE-2021-1493

HIGH
Classic Buffer Overflow (CWE-120)
2021-04-29 psirt@cisco.com
7.1
CVSS 3.1 · NVD
View

Vulnerability Assessment

Weakness
CWE
ASVS 5.0
V15 - Secure Coding and Architecture Buffer copy size validation
MITRE ATT&CK

1 technique across 1 tactic: Execution

The technique list with ATT&CK links and the kill-chain view is part of the Basic plan and up.

Impact

CVSS score of 7.1 (HIGH). Attack characteristics: network attack vector, low complexity, low privileges required, no user interaction not required.

Exploit ScenarioDerived

A remote attacker could overflow a buffer to corrupt adjacent memory by sending crafted requests to the affected application.

This Week Schedule remediation this week. Why: HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9).
No patch listed yet 1.2% exploitation probability (EPSS)

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AnalysisAI

A vulnerability in the web services interface of Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software and Cisco Firepower Threat Defense (FTD) Software could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.1), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.

RemediationAI

No vendor patch is available at time of analysis. Monitor vendor advisories for updates. Always validate buffer sizes before copy operations. Use bounded functions (strncpy, snprintf). Enable compiler protections.

Affects your stack

Find out whether the stacks and servers you run are on an affected version.

Checking this CVE against your own stacks and servers is part of the Basic plan and up.

Technical ContextAI · show details

This vulnerability is classified as Buffer Copy without Size Check (CWE-120), which allows attackers to overflow a buffer to corrupt adjacent memory. A vulnerability in the web services interface of Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software and Cisco Firepower Threat Defense (FTD) Software could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to cause a buffer overflow on an affected system. The vulnerability is due to insufficient boundary checks for specific data that is provided to the web services interface of an affected system. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a malicious HTTP request. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause a buffer overflow condition on the affected system, which could disclose data fragments or cause the device to reload, resulting in a denial of service (DoS) condition. Affected products include: Cisco Firepower Threat Defense, Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance Software.

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  • Exploit and PoC references, threat intelligence from 22 sources

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Severity by source

NVD PRIMARY 7.1 HIGH
AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:H

Primary rating from NVD · only source for this CVE.

CVSS VectorNVD

Attack Vector
Network
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
Low
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
Low
Integrity
None
Availability
High

DescriptionNVD

A vulnerability in the web services interface of Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software and Cisco Firepower Threat Defense (FTD) Software could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to cause a buffer overflow on an affected system. The vulnerability is due to insufficient boundary checks for specific data that is provided to the web services interface of an affected system. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a malicious HTTP request. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause a buffer overflow condition on the affected system, which could disclose data fragments or cause the device to reload, resulting in a denial of service (DoS) condition.

Threat Intelligence Overview

EPSS Score
1.2%
Top 35% exploitable
Data Quality
3 sources
Confidence: Low

How this decision was reached

The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.

SignalValue
Severity HIGH
CISA KEV No
Public POC No
EPSS 1.2%
Patch available No
Active threat No
Deciding rule
HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9)
What every action level means
Emergency Immediate action required. Criteria: CRITICAL + in CISA KEV (actively exploited) without patch, OR CRITICAL + EPSS > 30% without patch, OR CRITICAL + active threat signals without patch.
Act Now Prioritize within 24-48h. Criteria: in KEV with patch available, OR CRITICAL + public POC, OR HIGH + EPSS > 10%, OR CRITICAL + active threat, OR any CRITICAL severity.
This Week Schedule remediation this week. Criteria: HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9). Patch within normal change window.
This Month Plan within 30 days. Criteria: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9), lower exploitation probability. Include in regular patch cycle.
Monitor Track and reassess. Criteria: LOW severity (CVSS 0.1-3.9), minimal exploitation risk. No immediate action needed.

SSVC AssessmentENISA

SSVC Decision· derived
Scheduled
Exploitation· derived
None
System Exposure· derived
Open
Automatable· derived
No
Human Impact· derived
Medium

Priority Score

37
Low Medium High Critical
KEV: 0
EPSS: +1
CVSS: +36
PoC: 0
Weaponized: 0
Threat intel: 0
Gov advisory: 0

Attack Technique

A buffer overflow occurs when a program writes more data to a memory buffer than it was allocated to hold, causing the excess data to spill into adjacent memory regions.

Denial of Service attacks render applications or systems unavailable by overwhelming resources or triggering failure conditions.

Affected Products (CPE)NVD

cpe:2.3:a:cisco:firepower_threat_defense:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:cisco:firepower_threat_defense:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:cisco:firepower_threat_defense:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:cisco:adaptive_security_appliance_software:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:cisco:adaptive_security_appliance_software:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:cisco:adaptive_security_appliance_software:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:cisco:adaptive_security_appliance_software:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:cisco:adaptive_security_appliance_software:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:cisco:adaptive_security_appliance_software:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
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