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NVD / CVE Program· CNA cisco

CVE-2024-20481: A vulnerability in the Remote Access VPN (RAVPN) service of Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software and Cisco Firepower Threat Defe

Noroxi assessment

Priority: This week (action score 60/100)

  • CISA has confirmed exploitation in the wild (Oct 24, 2024). Remediation deadline for US federal agencies: Nov 14, 2024.
  • A ready-made attack tool exists and the flaw can be exploited over the network without an account, so priority is at least “This week”.
  • Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days: 15.8% (FIRST EPSS); higher than 96.8% 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.

Don’t wait for the next maintenance window. Until a fix is released, restrict access to the affected component and 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 · CISA KEV · FIRST EPSS

A vulnerability in the Remote Access VPN (RAVPN) service of Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software and Cisco Firepower Threat Defense (FTD) Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to cause a denial of service (DoS) of the RAVPN service. This vulnerability is due to resource exhaustion. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a large number of VPN authentication requests to an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to exhaust resources, resulting in a DoS of the RAVPN service on the affected device. Depending on the impact of the attack, a reload of the device may be required to restore the RAVPN service. Services that are not related to VPN are not affected. Cisco Talos discussed these attacks in the blog post Large-scale brute-force activity targeting VPNs, SSH services with commonly used login credentials.

MediumCVSS 5.8 · v3.1KEVWeaponized No fix recorded
Published
Oct 23, 2024
Updated
Aug 11, 2026
EPSS
15.8% · 96th percentile

Report tools

JSON

Action score

60

This week

Don’t wait for the next maintenance window.

CVSS
23 / 40 · 5.8 / 10
CISA KEV
30 / 30 · Listed
EPSS
5 / 30 · 15.8%
Ready-made attack tool
2 / 60 · floor: at least 60

CISA SSVC decision

Exploitation
active
Automatable
yes
Technical impact
partial

Vulnrichment: CISA's decision-tree inputs.

CNA vs NVD score

NVD
5.8
CNA · cisco
5.8
agree

The score given by the assigning authority versus NVD’s independent score. A gap means the severity is contested.

Actively exploited in the wild

CISA added this to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on Oct 24, 2024. That signals real attacks, not theory.

Remediation deadline for US federal agencies: Nov 14, 2024.

Get told when this record changes

  • In CISA KEV: exploitation in the wild confirmed
  • Weaponized exploit exists
  • No fixed version yet

If any of these changes, we'll tell you in the daily email digest.

Follow CVE-2024-20481

When you'll hear from us

  • when it enters CISA KEV
  • when exploit code appears or is weaponized
  • when the record is updated (including a fixed version)
  • when EPSS rises 20 points in a week

One daily email digest (06:00 UTC); connect a webhook for KEV listings and weaponized exploits instantly.

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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.

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Affected 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.

VendorProduct
ciscosecure firewall threat defense
ciscoadaptive security appliance software

Affected versions

NVD version ranges (for catalog products). Add the product to your stack with a version and matching uses these.

  • cisco adaptive security appliance software9.12.1
  • cisco adaptive security appliance software9.12.1.2
  • cisco adaptive security appliance software9.12.1.3
  • cisco adaptive security appliance software9.12.2
  • cisco adaptive security appliance software9.12.2.1
  • cisco adaptive security appliance software9.12.2.4
  • cisco adaptive security appliance software9.12.2.5
  • cisco adaptive security appliance software9.12.2.9
  • cisco adaptive security appliance software9.12.3
  • cisco adaptive security appliance software9.12.3.12
  • cisco adaptive security appliance software9.12.3.2
  • cisco adaptive security appliance software9.12.3.7
  • cisco adaptive security appliance software9.12.3.9
  • cisco adaptive security appliance software9.12.4
  • cisco adaptive security appliance software9.12.4.10
  • cisco adaptive security appliance software9.12.4.13
  • cisco adaptive security appliance software9.12.4.18
  • cisco adaptive security appliance software9.12.4.2
  • cisco adaptive security appliance software9.12.4.24
  • cisco adaptive security appliance software9.12.4.26

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 Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software

    • 9.8.1, 9.8.1.5, 9.8.1.7, 9.8.2, 9.8.2.8, 9.8.2.14, 9.8.2.15, 9.8.2.17, 9.8.2.20, 9.8.2.24, 9.8.2.26, 9.8.2.28 … (+28)affected

  • Cisco Cisco Firepower Threat Defense Software

    • 6.2.3, 6.2.3.1, 6.2.3.2, 6.2.3.3, 6.2.3.4, 6.2.3.5, 6.2.3.6, 6.2.3.7, 6.2.3.8, 6.2.3.10, 6.2.3.11, 6.2.3.9 … (+28)affected

Same product

cisco: all records

Other highest-scoring records for the same primary product.

  • CVE-2020-3259Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance Software and Firepower Threat Defense Software Web Services Information Disclosure VulnerabilityKEV
    81Now
  • CVE-2020-3580Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance Software and Firepower Threat Defense Software Web Services Interface Cross-Site Scripting VulnerabilitiesKEV
    80Now
  • CVE-2020-3187Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance Software and Firepower Threat Defense Software Web Services Path Traversal Vulnerability
    65This week

Published before and after this one in the same product

  • ← EarlierCVE-2024-20412Oct 23, 2024 · A vulnerability in Cisco Firepower Threat Defense (FTD) Software for Cisco Firepower 1000, 2100, 3100, and 4200 Series could allow an unauth
    33Monitor
  • ← EarlierCVE-2024-20431Oct 23, 2024 · A vulnerability in the geolocation access control feature of Cisco Firepower Threat Defense (FTD) Software could allow an unauthenticated, r
    23Monitor
  • Later →CVE-2024-20493Oct 23, 2024 · A vulnerability in the login authentication functionality of the Remote Access SSL VPN feature of Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) So
    21Monitor

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

Weaponized

A ready exploit tool or active in-the-wild use is known for this vulnerability. This should be your top priority.

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.

  1. Published
  2. CISA KEVsame day
  3. TodayOct 26, 2026+732 d
EPSS, last 120 days

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 researchers

Finders, 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.

  • CVE-2024-204930 days apartA vulnerability in the login authentication functionality of the Remote Access SSL VPN feature of Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) So
    21Monitor

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
low · 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
Low

Weakness class (CWE)

CWE-772 · Missing Release of Resource after Effective Lifetime

CVSS vector

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

nvd-primary

Attack context

MITRE CAPEC attack patterns and ATT&CK techniques for this weakness class (CWE). A starting point for detection rules and threat hunting.

Attack patterns (CAPEC)

Change log

No changes recorded on tracked fields yet. Score, KEV, exploit maturity and fix status changes appear here.

References

Show all references (1 more)

Vendor advisories and official records. Exploit/PoC links are deliberately left out.

All records