Skip to main content

Adaptive Security Appliance Software CVE-2026-20100

HIGH
Classic Buffer Overflow (CWE-120)
2026-03-04 psirt@cisco.com
7.7
CVSS 3.1 · Vendor: cisco
View

Attack ChainAIDerived

Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain

  1. Access
    Authenticate to Remote Access SSL VPN
  2. Delivery
    Send crafted HTTP packets to LUA interpreter
  3. Exploit
    Trigger unvalidated input processing
  4. Execution
    Device reload caused
  5. Impact
    Denial of service

Vulnerability Assessment

Weakness
CWE
OWASP Top 10:2025
A06:2021 - Vulnerable and Outdated Components
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.

Exploitation Conditions

Valid VPN authentication credentials required. Remote Access SSL VPN feature must be enabled on Cisco Secure Firewall ASA or FTD. Attacker must have legitimate VPN connection established to send HTTP packets to vulnerable LUA interpreter.

Impact

CVSS 7.7 (HIGH). Attack vector: Network. Complexity: Low. Privileges required: Low. User interaction: None. Exploitation requires authentication. Exploitable via remote/network.

Exploit ScenarioDerived

A remote attacker (requires authentication) could exploit this vulnerability to cause the device to reload, resulting in a DoS condition.

This Week Schedule remediation this week. Why: HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9).
No patch listed yet 0.2% exploitation probability (EPSS)

Get an e-mail when this CVE is exploited, patched or re-scored. Free account.

Alert me

AnalysisAIv1 – Mar 12, 2026

Cisco Secure Firewall ASA and FTD devices are vulnerable to a denial of service attack through the Remote Access SSL VPN feature, where authenticated attackers can trigger unvalidated input processing in the Lua interpreter to force device reloads. The vulnerability stems from insufficient input validation in the Lua interpreter and can be exploited by sending specially crafted HTTP packets over an existing VPN connection. No patch is currently available for this HIGH severity issue (CVSS 7.7).

Earlier versions of this analysis (1)
v1 Mar 12, 2026 - 22:05 CVSS 7.7

A vulnerability in the LUA interperter of the Remote Access SSL VPN feature of Cisco Secure Firewall Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software and Secure Firewall Threat Defense (FTD) Software could allow an authenticated, remote attacker with a valid VPN connection to cause the device to reload unexpectedly, resulting in a denial of service (DoS) condition. [CVSS 7.7 HIGH]

RemediationAI

Monitor vendor advisories for a patch. Enable ASLR, DEP/NX, and stack canaries where possible. Restrict network access to the affected service 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-120 (Classic Buffer Overflow). A vulnerability in the LUA interperter of the Remote Access SSL VPN feature of Cisco Secure Firewall Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software and Secure Firewall Threat Defense (FTD) Software could allow an authenticated, remote attacker with a valid VPN connection to cause the device to reload unexpectedly, resulting in a denial of service (DoS) condition. This does not affect the management or MUS interfaces. This vulnerability is due to trusting user input without validation in the LUA i

Know when Adaptive Security Appliance Software gets its next vulnerability

  • Watch products and get an email when something new is published
  • Check this CVE against your own stack and servers
  • Exploit and PoC references, threat intelligence from 22 sources

No credit card · 7-day full trial

Severity by source

Vendor (cisco) PRIMARY 7.7 HIGH
AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H

Primary rating from Vendor (cisco) · only source for this CVE.

CVSS VectorVendor: cisco

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

DescriptionCVE.org

A vulnerability in the LUA interperter of the Remote Access SSL VPN feature of Cisco Secure Firewall Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software and Secure Firewall Threat Defense (FTD) Software could allow an authenticated, remote attacker with a valid VPN connection to cause the device to reload unexpectedly, resulting in a denial of service (DoS) condition. This does not affect the management or MUS interfaces. This vulnerability is due to trusting user input without validation in the LUA interprerter. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending crafted HTTP packets to the Remote Access SSL VPN server. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause the device to reload, resulting in a DoS condition.

Executive ViewAI

Why It Matters

A denial-of-service vulnerability in Cisco Secure Firewall VPN components could allow authenticated remote attackers to crash VPN gateways, disrupting remote worker connectivity and business operations. Organizations relying on SSL VPN for remote access face service interruption risk until mitigation or patching is completed.

Business Impact: High
Compensating Controls

Disable SSL VPN Remote Access feature if not operationally critical; restrict VPN access to specific user groups and IP ranges via access control lists; implement connection rate limiting and session timeouts on VPN gateways; enable detailed logging and alerting for VPN authentication events and device reload incidents; maintain hot-standby failover appliances to minimize DoS impact; monitor Cisco security advisories for patch releases daily.

Threat Intelligence Overview

EPSS Score
0.2%
Top 59% 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 HIGH
CISA KEV No
Public POC No
EPSS 0.2%
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
High

Priority Score

38
Low Medium High Critical
KEV: 0
EPSS: 0
CVSS: +38
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)CVE.org

cpe:2.3:o:cisco:adaptive_security_appliance_software:9.12.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:cisco:adaptive_security_appliance_software:9.12.1.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:cisco:adaptive_security_appliance_software:9.12.1.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:cisco:adaptive_security_appliance_software:9.12.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:cisco:adaptive_security_appliance_software:9.12.2.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:cisco:adaptive_security_appliance_software:9.12.2.4:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:cisco:adaptive_security_appliance_software:9.12.2.5:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:cisco:adaptive_security_appliance_software:9.12.2.9:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:cisco:adaptive_security_appliance_software:9.12.3:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:cisco:adaptive_security_appliance_software:9.12.3.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:cisco:adaptive_security_appliance_software:9.12.3.7:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:cisco:adaptive_security_appliance_software:9.12.3.9:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:cisco:adaptive_security_appliance_software:9.12.3.12:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:cisco:adaptive_security_appliance_software:9.12.4:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:cisco:adaptive_security_appliance_software:9.12.4.2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:cisco:adaptive_security_appliance_software:9.12.4.4:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:cisco:adaptive_security_appliance_software:9.12.4.7:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:cisco:adaptive_security_appliance_software:9.12.4.8:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:cisco:adaptive_security_appliance_software:9.12.4.10:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:cisco:adaptive_security_appliance_software:9.12.4.13:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
+ 202 more
CVE-2020-3452 HIGH POC
7.5 Jul 22

A vulnerability in the web services interface of Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software and Cisco Firepower Th

CVE-2018-0296 HIGH POC
7.5 Jun 07

A vulnerability in the web interface of the Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) could allow an unauthenticated, remo

CVE-2020-3580 MEDIUM POC
6.1 Oct 21

Multiple vulnerabilities in the web services interface of Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software and Cisco Fir

CVE-2025-20362 HIGH POC
8.6 Sep 25

Unauthenticated remote access to restricted VPN web server endpoints in Cisco Secure ASA and Firepower Threat Defense (F

CVE-2020-3187 CRITICAL POC
9.1 May 06

A vulnerability in the web services interface of Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software and Cisco Firepower Th

CVE-2020-3259 HIGH
7.5 May 06

A vulnerability in the web services interface of Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software and Cisco Firepower Th

CVE-2016-1287 CRITICAL POC
9.8 Feb 11

Buffer overflow in the IKEv1 and IKEv2 implementations in Cisco ASA Software before 8.4(7.30), 8.7 before 8.7(1.18), 9.0

CVE-2018-0101 CRITICAL POC
10.0 Jan 29

A vulnerability in the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) VPN functionality of the Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Softw

CVE-2024-20353 HIGH POC
8.6 Apr 24

Cisco ASA and FTD management and VPN web servers contain a vulnerability causing device reload through incomplete error

CVE-2025-20333 CRITICAL
9.9 Sep 25

A vulnerability in the VPN web server of Cisco Secure Firewall Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software and Cisco Secu

CVE-2026-20349 HIGH POC
8.6 Aug 11

Denial of service via crafted HTTP requests to the Remote Access SSL VPN service affects Cisco Secure Firewall ASA and F

CVE-2026-76418 HIGH POC
8.6 Oct 28

Unauthenticated remote denial of service affecting Cisco Secure Firewall Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) and Threat De

This site uses cookies essential for authentication and security. No tracking or analytics cookies are used. Privacy Policy