CVE-2023-20269: Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance and Firepower Threat Defense Unauthorized Access Vulnerability
Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance and Firepower Threat Defense contain an unauthorized access vulnerability that could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to conduct a brute force attack in an attempt to identify valid username and password combinations or establish a clientless SSL VPN session with an unauthorized user.
| Vendor | Cisco |
|---|---|
| Product | Adaptive Security Appliance and Firepower Threat Defense |
| Date added to KEV | 2023-09-13 |
| Due date (BOD 22-01) | 2023-10-04 |
| Known ransomware campaign use | Known |
| CWE | CWE-288 |
| Required action | Apply mitigations per vendor instructions for group-lock and vpn-simultaneous-logins or discontinue use of the product for unsupported devices. |
What to do
- Identify every instance of Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance and Firepower Threat Defense in your environment (asset inventory, EDR, vulnerability scanner).
- Apply CISA's required action: Apply mitigations per vendor instructions for group-lock and vpn-simultaneous-logins or discontinue use of the product for unsupported devices.
- Federal civilian agencies must act by 2023-10-04 under BOD 22-01; other organizations can use the same date as a target.
- Because ransomware use is known, check for signs of compromise and confirm backups are offline and tested.
- Check the vendor advisory and NVD entry linked below for affected versions, then record the fix in your change log.
This CVE is flagged by CISA as known to be used in ransomware campaigns. Rehearse your response before you need it: Ransomware tabletop exercise kit (Runbook Foundry).