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Cisco · Adaptive Security Appliance and Firepower Threat Defense

CVE-2023-20269

Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance and Firepower Threat Defense Unauthorized Access Vulnerability

CISA KEV record

CISA date added
2023-09-13
CISA due date
2023-10-04
Known ransomware use
Known

NVD risk context

9.1 CRITICAL

CVSS is a technical severity score. CISA’s KEV status remains the evidence that this vulnerability is known to be exploited.

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Attack vector
Network
The vulnerable service can be reached remotely over a network.
Attack complexity
Low
Exploitation does not require unusual conditions beyond normal attacker control.
Privileges required
None
The attacker does not need an existing account or privileges.
User interaction
None
No action by another user is required.

Description

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.

Required action

Apply mitigations per vendor instructions for group-lock and vpn-simultaneous-logins or discontinue use of the product for unsupported devices.

NVD reference index

Vendor and remediation references

NVD has tagged these sources as vendor advisories, patches, mitigations, or release notes.

Other NVD references (1)

MITRE CWE context

CWE classification

CWE-288 Authentication Bypass Using an Alternate Path or Channel

The product requires authentication, but the product has an alternate path or channel that does not require authentication.

View official MITRE CWE details ↗

NVD record timing

NVD record timeline

These dates describe NVD’s record, not CISA’s KEV addition or remediation due date.

NVD published
Sep 06, 2023, 06:15 PM UTC
When NVD first published this CVE record.
NVD last updated
Jun 17, 2026, 05:30 AM UTC
When NVD last changed its analysis or record data.
Advanced: view the technical CVSS vector

This standardized code is intended for security tools and technical analysts. The plain-language risk summary above explains its main points.

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N

View NVD record ↗

CISA notes

https://sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-asaftd-ravpn-auth-8LyfCkeC; https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-20269