Cisco Firepower Threat Defense Software VPN System Logging Denial of Service Vulnerability
Noroxi assessment
Priority: Monitor (action score 35/100)
- The sources we track (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, Metasploit, Nuclei, GitHub) show no public exploit code or exploitation in the wild.
- Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days: 1.8% (FIRST EPSS); higher than 79% of all records.
- Anyone who can reach it over the internet can trigger it. No account or password is required. No user action is required. No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.
- According to CISA the attack is automatable: targets can be found by mass scanning.
- According to the record, no fixed version is available yet.
Low priority for now. Update when a fix is released; follow the vendor's advisory.
Generated automatically from the record's data: CVSS (NVD and CNA), CISA KEV and SSVC, FIRST EPSS, exploit sources, fixed versions. How we calculate it
Primary sources: NVD · CVE.org · FIRST EPSS
A vulnerability in the VPN System Logging functionality for Cisco Firepower Threat Defense (FTD) Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to cause a memory leak that can deplete system memory over time, which can cause unexpected system behaviors or device crashes. The vulnerability is due to the system memory not being properly freed for a VPN System Logging event generated when a VPN session is created or deleted. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by repeatedly creating or deleting a VPN tunnel connection, which could leak a small amount of system memory for each logging event. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause system memory depletion, which can lead to a systemwide denial of service (DoS) condition. The attacker does not have any control of whether VPN System Logging is configured or not on the device, but it is enabled by default.
- Published
- May 6, 2020
- Updated
- Aug 11, 2026
- EPSS
- 1.8% · 79th percentile
- CWE
- CWE-400
Report tools
Action score
35
Monitor
Low priority for now.
- CVSS
- 34 / 40 · 8.6 / 10
- CISA KEV
- 0 / 30 · Not listed
- EPSS
- 1 / 30 · 1.8%
CISA SSVC decision
- Exploitation
- none
- Automatable
- yes
- Technical impact
- partial
Vulnrichment: CISA's decision-tree inputs.
CNA vs NVD score
- NVD
- 8.6
- CNA · cisco
- 8.6
- agree
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H
The score given by the assigning authority versus NVD’s independent score. A gap means the severity is contested.
Get told when this record changes
- Not in KEV: no record of exploitation in the wild
- No public exploit code on record
- No fixed version yet
If any of these changes, we'll tell you in the daily email digest.
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Noroxi analysis
What does it mean in your environment?
The assessment above is generated automatically from the record's data; it doesn't know your environment. Our team verifies on your systems whether this vulnerability is actually exploitable and which mitigation is enough.
We use this product, ask for helpAffected systems
Is your version affected?
Pick the product and type the version you run. It's compared with this record's version ranges in your browser; the version isn't sent anywhere.
| Vendor | Product | CPE |
|---|---|---|
| cisco | secure firewall threat defense | cpe:2.3:a:cisco:secure_firewall_threat_defense |
| cisco | asa 5505 firmware | cpe:2.3:o:cisco:asa_5505_firmware |
| cisco | asa 5505 | cpe:2.3:h:cisco:asa_5505 |
| cisco | asa 5510 firmware | cpe:2.3:o:cisco:asa_5510_firmware |
| cisco | asa 5510 | cpe:2.3:h:cisco:asa_5510 |
| cisco | asa 5512-x firmware | cpe:2.3:o:cisco:asa_5512-x_firmware |
| cisco | asa 5512-x | cpe:2.3:h:cisco:asa_5512-x |
| cisco | asa 5515-x firmware | cpe:2.3:o:cisco:asa_5515-x_firmware |
| cisco | asa 5515-x | cpe:2.3:h:cisco:asa_5515-x |
| cisco | asa 5520 firmware | cpe:2.3:o:cisco:asa_5520_firmware |
| cisco | asa 5520 | cpe:2.3:h:cisco:asa_5520 |
| cisco | asa 5525-x firmware | cpe:2.3:o:cisco:asa_5525-x_firmware |
and 13 more
Affected versions
NVD version ranges (for catalog products). Add the product to your stack with a version and matching uses these.
- cisco asa 5505 firmware9.9(2.21)
- cisco asa 5505 firmware9.9(2.52)
- cisco asa 5505 firmware9.9(2.55)
- cisco asa 5505 firmware9.9(2)
- cisco asa 5510 firmware9.9(2.21)
- cisco asa 5510 firmware9.9(2.52)
- cisco asa 5510 firmware9.9(2.55)
- cisco asa 5510 firmware9.9(2)
- cisco asa 5512-x firmware9.9(2.21)
- cisco asa 5512-x firmware9.9(2.52)
- cisco asa 5512-x firmware9.9(2.55)
- cisco asa 5512-x firmware9.9(2)
- cisco asa 5515-x firmware9.9(2.21)
- cisco asa 5515-x firmware9.9(2.52)
- cisco asa 5515-x firmware9.9(2.55)
- cisco asa 5515-x firmware9.9(2)
- cisco asa 5520 firmware9.9(2.21)
- cisco asa 5520 firmware9.9(2.52)
- cisco asa 5520 firmware9.9(2.55)
- cisco asa 5520 firmware9.9(2)
Versions reported by the vendor
Affected version ranges reported by the assigning authority (cisco). Independent of NVD's CPE analysis and usually ahead of it.
Cisco Cisco Firepower Threat Defense Software
- n/aaffected
Same product
cisco: all recordsOther highest-scoring records for the same primary product.
- CVE-2020-3259Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance Software and Firepower Threat Defense Software Web Services Information Disclosure VulnerabilityKEV81Now
- CVE-2020-3580Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance Software and Firepower Threat Defense Software Web Services Interface Cross-Site Scripting VulnerabilitiesKEV80Now
- CVE-2020-3187Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance Software and Firepower Threat Defense Software Web Services Path Traversal Vulnerability65This week
Published before and after this one in the same product
- ← EarlierCVE-2020-3186May 6, 2020 · Cisco Firepower Threat Defense Software Management Access List Bypass Vulnerability21Monitor
- ← EarlierCVE-2020-3188May 6, 2020 · Cisco Firepower Threat Defense Software Management Interface Denial of Service Vulnerability22Monitor
- Later →CVE-2020-3191May 6, 2020 · Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance Software and Firepower Threat Defense Software IPv6 DNS Denial of Service Vulnerability35Monitor
Remediation
Which version to upgrade to
Fix versions compiled from the vendor, package registries and Microsoft. Verify the vendor's note before upgrading.
No fix version is recorded for this entry. Check the references for vendor advisories.
Exploit status
No known public exploit
No public exploit has been observed yet. That doesn't mean you're safe, only that the bar is a little higher.
Research context
For pentesters and researchers: attack profile, score disagreement, timeline, patch commits, credits, variant and chain candidates, bug bounty scope. All derived from existing data; no exploit code.
Timeline
From publication to today: proof of concept, Metasploit module, CISA KEV and fix record. Dates are as reported by the sources.
No dated events beyond publication.
FIRST EPSS daily score; only changes of 0.01 or more are recorded (step chart).
Patch and commit links
Commit, PR and diff links among the references. A starting point for patch-diffing and variant hunting; fixes, not exploits.
No commit or PR link among the references.
Credits
All researchersFinders, reporters and analysts named in the CNA record. Click a name for that researcher’s other records.
No credits in the CNA record.
Variant candidates
Same product, same weakness class, within 18 months. If the patch missed the root cause, the sibling bug is here.
No nightly-computed relations.
Chain candidates
An authentication bypass and a privilege-requiring bug in the same product, published close together: combined they may become an unauthenticated path.
—
Bug bounty scope
No known public program.
Source: bounty-targets-data (public HackerOne, Bugcrowd, Intigriti, YesWeHack listings).
Technical details
Attack conditions
- Anyone who can reach it over the internet can trigger it.
- No account or password is required.
- No user action is required.
- No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.
If successful
- Confidentiality
- none
- Integrity
- none
- Availability
- high · the service can be disrupted
Impact can extend beyond the vulnerable component (scope changes).
- Attack vector
- Network
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Changed
- Confidentiality impact
- None
- Integrity impact
- None
- Availability impact
- High
Weakness class (CWE)
CWE-400 · Uncontrolled Resource ConsumptionCVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H
nvd-primary
Root cause
Code that parses nested structures sets no depth or size limit. A small input can turn into a disproportionate processing load.
The bug in code
The whole CWE-400 classA representative example of this vulnerability class. Not the vendor's source code; it shows the faulty pattern and its fix.
Vulnerable
function expand(node) {
return node.children.map(expand);
}Fixed
const MAX_DEPTH = 32;
function expand(node, depth = 0) {
if (depth > MAX_DEPTH) throw new Error("too deep");
return node.children.map((c) => expand(c, depth + 1));
}Attack context
MITRE CAPEC attack patterns and ATT&CK techniques for this weakness class (CWE). A starting point for detection rules and threat hunting.
Change log
No changes recorded on tracked fields yet. Score, KEV, exploit maturity and fix status changes appear here.
References
Vendor advisories and official records. Exploit/PoC links are deliberately left out.