IRONSMITHINTEL
HIGHCVSS8.6
|
Actively Exploited
|CISA KEV|CVE-2024-20353|Auth: none — unauthenticated|Reboot: required|Manual only

Cisco ASA and FTD Denial of Service Vulnerability

Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) and Firepower Threat Defense (FTD) contain an infinite loop vulnerability that can lead to remote denial of service condition.

Published Apr 24, 2024 · Updated May 16, 2026
Why patchRisk explained in plain English
Worst-case scenarioIf unpatched

A remote attacker, without authentication, can achieve partial data exposure, complete denial of service or system unavailability. Federal agencies are required to remediate by 2024-05-01 under CISA BOD 22-01.

How the attack worksNo clicks needed

This is a Software Vulnerability (CWE-835) (CWE-835) vulnerability in Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) and Firepower Threat Defense (FTD). A vulnerability in the management and VPN web servers for Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software and Cisco Firepower Threat Defense (FTD) Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to cause the device to reload unexpectedly, resulting in a denial of service (DoS) condition. This vulnerability is due to incomplete error checking when parsing an HTTP header. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a crafted HTTP request to a targeted web server on a device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause a DoS condition when the device reloads. Exploitation requires remote network access, low attack complexity, no authentication required, and no user interaction required.

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Phishing link

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Malicious file

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Server compromised

Am I affected?Quick check

Probably yes if any of these apply:

Network Security Team
Firewall Administrators
IT Security
Running adaptive security appliance 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, 9.8.2.33, 9.8.2.35, 9.8.2.38, 9.8.3, 9.8.3.8, 9.8.3.11, 9.8.3.14, 9.8.3.16, 9.8.3.18, 9.8.3.21, 9.8.3.26, 9.8.3.29, 9.8.4, 9.8.4.3, 9.8.4.7, 9.8.4.8, 9.8.4.10, 9.8.4.12, 9.8.4.15, 9.8.4.17, 9.8.4.20, 9.8.4.22, 9.8.4.25, 9.8.4.26, 9.8.4.29, 9.8.4.32, 9.8.4.33, 9.8.4.34, 9.8.4.35, 9.8.4.39, 9.8.4.40, 9.8.4.41, 9.8.4.43, 9.8.4.44, 9.8.4.45, 9.8.4.46, 9.8.4.48, 9.12.1, 9.12.1.2, 9.12.1.3, 9.12.2, 9.12.2.1, 9.12.2.4, 9.12.2.5, 9.12.2.9, 9.12.3, 9.12.3.2, 9.12.3.7, 9.12.3.9, 9.12.3.12, 9.12.4, 9.12.4.2, 9.12.4.4, 9.12.4.7, 9.12.4.8, 9.12.4.10, 9.12.4.13, 9.12.4.18, 9.12.4.24, 9.12.4.26, 9.12.4.29, 9.12.4.30, 9.12.4.35, 9.12.4.37, 9.12.4.38, 9.12.4.39, 9.12.4.40, 9.12.4.41, 9.12.4.47, 9.12.4.48, 9.12.4.50, 9.12.4.52, 9.12.4.54, 9.12.4.55, 9.12.4.56, 9.12.4.58, 9.12.4.62, 9.12.4.65, 9.14.1, 9.14.1.6, 9.14.1.10, 9.14.1.15, 9.14.1.19, 9.14.1.30, 9.14.2, 9.14.2.4, 9.14.2.8, 9.14.2.13, 9.14.2.15, 9.14.3, 9.14.3.1, 9.14.3.9, 9.14.3.11, 9.14.3.13, 9.14.3.15, 9.14.3.18, 9.14.4, 9.14.4.6, 9.14.4.7, 9.14.4.12, 9.14.4.13, 9.14.4.14, 9.14.4.15, 9.14.4.17, 9.14.4.22, 9.14.4.23, 9.15.1, 9.15.1.1, 9.15.1.7, 9.15.1.10, 9.15.1.15, 9.15.1.16, 9.15.1.17, 9.15.1.21, 9.16.1, 9.16.1.28, 9.16.2, 9.16.2.3, 9.16.2.7, 9.16.2.11, 9.16.2.13, 9.16.2.14, 9.16.3, 9.16.3.3, 9.16.3.14, 9.16.3.15, 9.16.3.19, 9.16.3.23, 9.16.4, 9.16.4.9, 9.16.4.14, 9.16.4.18, 9.16.4.19, 9.16.4.27, 9.16.4.38, 9.16.4.39, 9.16.4.42, 9.16.4.48, 9.16.4.55, 9.17.1, 9.17.1.7, 9.17.1.9, 9.17.1.10, 9.17.1.11, 9.17.1.13, 9.17.1.15, 9.17.1.20, 9.17.1.30, 9.17.1.33, 9.18.1, 9.18.1.3, 9.18.2, 9.18.2.5, 9.18.2.7, 9.18.2.8, 9.18.3, 9.18.3.39, 9.18.3.46, 9.18.3.53, 9.18.3.55, 9.18.3.56, 9.18.4, 9.18.4.5, 9.18.4.8, 9.19.1, 9.19.1.5, 9.19.1.9, 9.19.1.12, 9.19.1.18, 9.19.1.22, 9.19.1.24, 9.19.1.27, 9.20.1, 9.20.1.5, 9.20.2; firepower threat defense: 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, 6.2.3.9, 6.2.3.10, 6.2.3.11, 6.2.3.12, 6.2.3.13, 6.2.3.14, 6.2.3.15, 6.2.3.16, 6.2.3.17, 6.2.3.18, 6.4.0, 6.4.0.1, 6.4.0.2, 6.4.0.3, 6.4.0.4, 6.4.0.5, 6.4.0.6, 6.4.0.7, 6.4.0.8, 6.4.0.9, 6.4.0.10, 6.4.0.11, 6.4.0.12, 6.4.0.13, 6.4.0.14, 6.4.0.15, 6.4.0.16, 6.4.0.17, 6.6.0, 6.6.0.1, 6.6.1, 6.6.3, 6.6.4, 6.6.5, 6.6.5.1, 6.6.5.2, 6.6.7, 6.6.7.1, 6.7.0, 6.7.0.1, 6.7.0.2, 6.7.0.3, 7.0.0, 7.0.0.1, 7.0.1, 7.0.1.1, 7.0.2, 7.0.2.1, 7.0.3, 7.0.4, 7.0.5, 7.0.6, 7.0.6.1, 7.1.0, 7.1.0.1, 7.1.0.2, 7.1.0.3, 7.2.0, 7.2.0.1, 7.2.1, 7.2.2, 7.2.3, 7.2.4, 7.2.4.1, 7.2.5, 7.2.5.1, 7.3.0, 7.3.1, 7.3.1.1, 7.4.0, 7.4.1
Real-world incidentsWhat we've seen

Active exploitation documented in the wild. Threat-research write-up: https://blog.talosintelligence.com/arcanedoor-new-espionage-focused-campaign-found-targeting-perimeter-network-devices/

How to patch

Manual remediation steps

Apply the Vendor Patch

This vulnerability is in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog — apply the vendor's security update as soon as possible.

CISA required action: Apply mitigations per vendor instructions or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.

References

    1
    Vendor advisory: https://sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-asaftd-websrvs-dos-X8gNucD2
    1
    NVD entry: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-20353
    1
    CISA KEV: https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2024-20353
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