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Adaptive Security Appliance Software CVE-2024-20481

MEDIUM
Missing Release of Resource after Effective Lifetime (CWE-772)
2024-10-23 psirt@cisco.com
5.8
CVSS 3.1 · NVD
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Vulnerability Assessment

Weakness
CWE
ASVS 5.0
V15 - Secure Coding and Architecture Resource cleanup on lifecycle end
Impact

CVSS score of 5.8 (MEDIUM). Attack characteristics: network attack vector, low complexity, no privileges required, no user interaction not required.

Exploit ScenarioDerived

This vulnerability can be exploited remotely over the network. Successful exploitation could compromise the medium-severity affected system.

This Month Plan within 30 days. Why: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9).
Exploited in the wild (CISA KEV) No patch listed yet 16.0% exploitation probability (EPSS)

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AnalysisAI

A vulnerability in the Remote Access VPN (RAVPN) service of Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software and Cisco Firepower Threat Defense (FTD) Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote. Rated medium severity (CVSS 5.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.

RemediationAI

No vendor patch is available at time of analysis. Monitor vendor advisories for updates. Apply vendor patches when available. Implement network segmentation and monitoring as interim mitigations.

Affects your stack

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Technical ContextAI · show details

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-772. A vulnerability in the Remote Access VPN (RAVPN) service of Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software and Cisco Firepower Threat Defense (FTD) Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to cause a denial of service (DoS) of the RAVPN service. This vulnerability is due to resource exhaustion. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a large number of VPN authentication requests to an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to exhaust resources, resulting in a DoS of the RAVPN service on the affected device. Depending on the impact of the attack, a reload of the device may be required to restore the RAVPN service. Services that are not related to VPN are not affected. Cisco Talos discussed these attacks in the blog post Large-scale brute-force activity targeting VPNs, SSH services with commonly used login credentials. Affected products include: Cisco Firepower Threat Defense Software, 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 5.8 MEDIUM
AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:L

Primary rating from NVD · only source for this CVE.

CVSS VectorNVD

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

Lifecycle Timeline

2
Added to CISA KEV
Jul 14, 2026 - 04:22 CISA
CVE Published
Oct 23, 2024 - 18:15 nvd
MEDIUM 5.8

DescriptionNVD

A vulnerability in the Remote Access VPN (RAVPN) service of Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software and Cisco Firepower Threat Defense (FTD) Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to cause a denial of service (DoS) of the RAVPN service. This vulnerability is due to resource exhaustion. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a large number of VPN authentication requests to an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to exhaust resources, resulting in a DoS of the RAVPN service on the affected device. Depending on the impact of the attack, a reload of the device may be required to restore the RAVPN service. Services that are not related to VPN are not affected. Cisco Talos discussed these attacks in the blog post Large-scale brute-force activity targeting VPNs, SSH services with commonly used login credentials.

Threat Intelligence Overview

EPSS Score
16.0%
Top 3% exploitable
Data Quality
4 sources
Confidence: Medium

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 MEDIUM
CISA KEV Yes
Public POC No
EPSS 16.0%
Patch available No
Active threat Yes
Deciding rule
MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9)
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
Immediate
Exploitation· derived
Active
System Exposure· derived
Open
Automatable· derived
Yes
Human Impact· derived
High

Priority Score

95
Low Medium High Critical
KEV: +50
EPSS: +16
CVSS: +29
PoC: 0
Weaponized: 0
Threat intel: 0
Gov advisory: 0

Attack Technique

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_software:6.2.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:cisco:firepower_threat_defense_software:6.2.3.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:cisco:firepower_threat_defense_software:6.2.3.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:cisco:firepower_threat_defense_software:6.2.3.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:cisco:firepower_threat_defense_software:6.2.3.4:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:cisco:firepower_threat_defense_software:6.2.3.5:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:cisco:firepower_threat_defense_software:6.2.3.6:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:cisco:firepower_threat_defense_software:6.2.3.7:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:cisco:firepower_threat_defense_software:6.2.3.8:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:cisco:firepower_threat_defense_software:6.2.3.9:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:cisco:firepower_threat_defense_software:6.2.3.10:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:cisco:firepower_threat_defense_software:6.2.3.11:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:cisco:firepower_threat_defense_software:6.2.3.12:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:cisco:firepower_threat_defense_software:6.2.3.13:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:cisco:firepower_threat_defense_software:6.2.3.14:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:cisco:firepower_threat_defense_software:6.2.3.15:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:cisco:firepower_threat_defense_software:6.2.3.16:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:cisco:firepower_threat_defense_software:6.2.3.17:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:cisco:firepower_threat_defense_software:6.2.3.18:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:cisco:firepower_threat_defense_software:6.4.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
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