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Adaptive Security Appliance Software CVE-2026-20023

MEDIUM
Out-of-bounds Write (CWE-787)
2026-03-04 psirt@cisco.com
6.5
CVSS 3.1 · NVD
View

Vulnerability Assessment

Weakness
CWE
OWASP Top 10:2025
A06:2021 - Vulnerable and Outdated Components
ASVS 5.0
V15 - Secure Coding and Architecture Bounds checking, write limits
MITRE ATT&CK

2 techniques across 2 tactics: Execution, Privilege Escalation

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

Impact

CVSS 6.1 (MEDIUM). Attack vector: Adjacent Network. Complexity: High. Privileges required: None. User interaction: None. Exploitation no authentication required.

Exploit ScenarioDerived

An attacker without authentication could exploit this vulnerability to cause memory corruption causing the affected device to reboot, resulting in a Do.

This Month Plan within 30 days. Why: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9).
No patch listed yet 0.0% exploitation probability (EPSS)

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AnalysisAIv1 – Mar 12, 2026

Memory corruption in Cisco Secure Firewall ASA and FTD OSPF packet processing allows adjacent, unauthenticated attackers to crash affected devices by sending crafted protocol packets. The vulnerability results in device reboot and denial of service, with no authentication or user interaction required. No patch is currently available.

Earlier versions of this analysis (1)
v1 Mar 12, 2026 - 22:05 CVSS 6.1

A vulnerability in the OSPF protocol of Cisco Secure Firewall Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software and Cisco Secure Firewall Threat Defense (FTD) Software could allow an unauthenticated, adjacent attacker to corrupt memory on an affected device, resulting in a denial of service (DoS) condition. [CVSS 6.1 MEDIUM]

RemediationAI

Monitor vendor advisories for a patch. Enable ASLR, DEP/NX, and stack canaries where possible.

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

Classified as CWE-787 (Out-of-bounds Write). A vulnerability in the OSPF protocol of Cisco Secure Firewall Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software and Cisco Secure Firewall Threat Defense (FTD) Software could allow an unauthenticated, adjacent attacker to corrupt memory on an affected device, resulting in a denial of service (DoS) condition. This vulnerability is due to memory corruption when parsing OSPF protocol packets. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending crafted OSPF packets to an affected device. A successful

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  • Exploit and PoC references, threat intelligence from 22 sources

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Severity by source

NVD PRIMARY 6.5 MEDIUM
AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Primary rating from NVD · only source for this CVE.

CVSS VectorNVD

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

Lifecycle Timeline

2
CVSS changed
Aug 11, 2026 - 19:52 NVD
6.1 (MEDIUM) 6.5 (MEDIUM)
CVE Published
Mar 04, 2026 - 19:16 nvd
MEDIUM 6.1

DescriptionNVD

A vulnerability in the OSPF protocol of Cisco Secure Firewall Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software and Cisco Secure Firewall Threat Defense (FTD) Software could allow an unauthenticated, adjacent attacker to corrupt memory on an affected device, resulting in a denial of service (DoS) condition. This vulnerability is due to memory corruption when parsing OSPF protocol packets. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending crafted OSPF packets to an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause memory corruption causing the affected device to reboot, resulting in a DoS condition.

Executive ViewAI

Why It Matters

CVE-2026-20023 presents moderate security risk, a out-of-bounds write vulnerability rated CVSS 6.1. Exploitation could cause memory corruption or application crashes. Organizations should apply vendor updates when available and monitor for exploitation.

Business Impact: Low
Compensating Controls

Apply vendor patch. If patching is delayed: enable ASLR/DEP, apply network segmentation.

Threat Intelligence Overview

EPSS Score
0.0%
Top 94% 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 No
Public POC No
EPSS 0.0%
Patch available No
Active threat No
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
Defer
Exploitation· derived
None
System Exposure· derived
Controlled
Automatable· derived
No
Human Impact
Low

Priority Score

32
Low Medium High Critical
KEV: 0
EPSS: 0
CVSS: +32
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.

Memory corruption occurs when a program writes data beyond the boundaries of allocated memory regions or accesses memory in unintended ways, violating the integrity of the process's address space.

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:6.4.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:cisco:firepower_threat_defense_software:6.4.0.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:cisco:firepower_threat_defense_software:6.4.0.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:cisco:firepower_threat_defense_software:6.4.0.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:cisco:firepower_threat_defense_software:6.4.0.4:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:cisco:firepower_threat_defense_software:6.4.0.5:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:cisco:firepower_threat_defense_software:6.4.0.6:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:cisco:firepower_threat_defense_software:6.4.0.7:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:cisco:firepower_threat_defense_software:6.4.0.8:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:cisco:firepower_threat_defense_software:6.4.0.9:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:cisco:firepower_threat_defense_software:6.4.0.10:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:cisco:firepower_threat_defense_software:6.4.0.11:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:cisco:firepower_threat_defense_software:6.4.0.12:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:cisco:firepower_threat_defense_software:6.4.0.13:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:cisco:firepower_threat_defense_software:6.4.0.14:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:cisco:firepower_threat_defense_software:6.4.0.15:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:cisco:firepower_threat_defense_software:6.4.0.16:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:cisco:firepower_threat_defense_software:6.4.0.17:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:cisco:firepower_threat_defense_software:6.4.0.18:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:cisco:firepower_threat_defense_software:7.0.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
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