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ExploitedIn CISA KEV

CVE-2023-20269

Exploitation confirmed. First attested on 2023-09-13 by CISA-ADP, CISA KEV, GCVE · kevintel.

  • Published2023-09-06
  • WeaknessCWE-288 · CWE-863

Am I affected?

With a domain, we read the version its public headers and pages expose. A distribution build can carry the fix under an older number.

Description

A vulnerability in the remote access VPN feature of Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software and Cisco Firepower Threat Defense (FTD) Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to conduct a brute force attack in an attempt to identify valid username and password combinations or an authenticated, remote attacker to establish a clientless SSL VPN session with an unauthorized user. This vulnerability is due to improper separation of authentication, authorization, and accounting (AAA) between the remote access VPN feature and the HTTPS management and site-to-site VPN features. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by specifying a default connection profile/tunnel group while conducting a brute force attack or while establishing a clientless SSL VPN session using valid credentials. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to achieve one or both of the following: Identify valid credentials that could then be used to establish an unauthorized remote access VPN session. Establish a clientless SSL VPN session (only when running Cisco ASA Software Release 9.16 or earlier). Notes: Establishing a client-based remote access VPN tunnel is not possible as these default connection profiles/tunnel groups do not and cannot have an IP address pool configured. This vulnerability does not allow an attacker to bypass authentication. To successfully establish a remote access VPN session, valid credentials are required, including a valid second factor if multi-factor authentication (MFA) is configured. Cisco will release software updates that address this vulnerability. There are workarounds that address this vulnerability.

Timeline

dates in UTC
  1. 2023-09-0618:15CVE publishedNVD
  2. 2023-09-13Added to the CISA KEV catalogCISA KEV
  3. 2023-09-13Listed as exploited by GCVEGCVE
  4. 2023-09-13Exploitation first reportedCISA KEV
  5. 2023-11-1516:35SSVC exploitation set to activeCISA-ADP

Observed activity

isMalicious corpus · updated 2026-11-04 09:37 UTC
Indicators tagged with this CVE, per day0 indicators over 7 days
Block these indicators
  • Firewall list (EDL, text): https://api.ismalicious.com/edl/cve/CVE-2023-20269?format=txt
  • CSV export: https://api.ismalicious.com/edl/cve/CVE-2023-20269?format=csv
  • TAXII collection of exploited CVEs
  • The EDL and CSV take an API key on the Pro plan.

Versions per branch

NVD
Cisco ASA
BranchAffectedFixed in
9.8= 9.8.1no fix published
9.8= 9.8.1.5no fix published
9.8= 9.8.1.7no fix published
9.8= 9.8.2no fix published
9.8= 9.8.2.8no fix published
9.8= 9.8.2.14no fix published
9.8= 9.8.2.15no fix published
9.8= 9.8.2.17no fix published
9.8= 9.8.2.20no fix published
9.8= 9.8.2.24no fix published
9.8= 9.8.2.26no fix published
9.8= 9.8.2.28no fix published
Cisco secure firewall threat defense
BranchAffectedFixed in
6.2= 6.2.3no fix published
6.2= 6.2.3.1no fix published
6.2= 6.2.3.2no fix published
6.2= 6.2.3.3no fix published
6.2= 6.2.3.4no fix published
6.2= 6.2.3.5no fix published
6.2= 6.2.3.6no fix published
6.2= 6.2.3.7no fix published
6.2= 6.2.3.8no fix published
6.2= 6.2.3.9no fix published
6.2= 6.2.3.10no fix published
6.2= 6.2.3.11no fix published

as publishedRanges as NVD and OSV publish them; a distribution’s build can be fixed under an older number.

Products declared by the CNA2 products

As cisco, the CNA that assigned this CVE, declared them in the CVE record; versions as written.

  • Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software
    Affected
    • = 9.8.1no fix stated
    • = 9.8.1.5no fix stated
    • = 9.8.1.7no fix stated
    • = 9.8.2no fix stated
    • = 9.8.2.8no fix stated
    • = 9.8.2.14no fix stated
    • = 9.8.2.15no fix stated
    • = 9.8.2.17no fix stated

    162 more version lines in the CVE record.

  • Cisco Firepower Threat Defense Software
    Affected
    • = 6.2.3no fix stated
    • = 6.2.3.1no fix stated
    • = 6.2.3.2no fix stated
    • = 6.2.3.3no fix stated
    • = 6.2.3.4no fix stated
    • = 6.2.3.5no fix stated
    • = 6.2.3.6no fix stated
    • = 6.2.3.7no fix stated

    68 more version lines in the CVE record.

Source: the CNA record (CVE Program), © The MITRE Corporation,CVE Terms of UseCVE recordupdated 2024-01-25

Fix

  1. 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.due 2023-10-04

Advisories and patches

Detection

Nuclei template
none so far
ProjectDiscovery
Exploit-DB
no entry
Exploit-DB
Proof-of-concept repositories
none listed
PoC-in-GitHub
Metasploit modules
none listed
Metasploit Framework

CISA Known Exploited Vulnerability

Date Added
2023-09-13
Patch Due Date
2023-10-04
Ransomware Use
Known
Required Action
Apply mitigations per vendor instructions for group-lock and vpn-simultaneous-logins or discontinue use of the product for unsupported devices.

Sources

Identifiers

Technical details

CVSS v3 Vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N
Published
2023-09-06
Last Modified
2026-08-11
NVD status
Analyzed
GitHub Advisory
GHSA-v7pw-9cmm-88m6

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2023-20269?

A vulnerability in the remote access VPN feature of Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software and Cisco Firepower Threat Defense (FTD) Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to conduct a brute force attack in an attempt to identify valid username and password combinations or an authenticated, remote attacker to establish a clientless SSL VPN session with an unauthorized user. This vulnerability is due to improper separation of authentication, authorization, and accounting (AAA) between the remote access VPN feature and the HTTPS management and site-to-site VPN features. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by specifying a default connection profile/tunnel group while conducting a brute force attack or while establishing a clientless SSL VPN session using valid credentials. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to achieve one or both of the following: Identify valid credentials that could then be used to establish an unauthorized remote access VPN session. Establish a clientless SSL VPN session (only when running Cisco ASA Software Release 9.16 or earlier). Notes: Establishing a client-based remote access VPN tunnel is not possible as these default connection profiles/tunnel groups do not and cannot have an IP address pool configured. This vulnerability does not allow an attacker to bypass authentication. To successfully establish a remote access VPN session, valid credentials are required, including a valid second factor if multi-factor authentication (MFA) is configured. Cisco will release software updates that address this vulnerability. There are workarounds that address this vulnerability.

Is CVE-2023-20269 actively exploited?

Yes. CVE-2023-20269 is on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog, meaning it has been confirmed as actively exploited in the wild. CISA requires federal agencies to patch by 2023-10-04.

What is the CVSS score for CVE-2023-20269?

CVE-2023-20269 has a CVSS v3 base score of 9.1 (CRITICAL severity), with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N.

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Sources for this record