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Firewall Services ModuleHardware / appliance · Cisco

CVE-2004-0079

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2004-11-23
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
84/100
Remediation priority · High
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
The do_change_cipher_spec function in OpenSSL 0.9.6c to 0.9.6k, and 0.9.7a to 0.9.7c, allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (crash) via a crafted SSL/TLS handshake that triggers a null dereference.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

The do_change_cipher_spec function in OpenSSL versions 0.9.6c-0.9.6k and 0.9.7a-0.9.7c contains a null pointer dereference vulnerability that can be triggered during the SSL/TLS handshake. A remote attacker can send a specially crafted handshake message that causes the affected OpenSSL process to crash, resulting in denial of service.

MitigationUpgrade to OpenSSL 0.9.6l, 0.9.7d, or later versions that contain the patch for this vulnerability. For systems that cannot be immediately upgraded, consider using SSL/TLS termination proxies or load balancers to isolate the vulnerability.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
Firewall Services ModuleHardware / appliance
Affected:all versions= 1.1.2= 1.1.3= 1.1_\(3.005\)= 2.1_\(0.208\)
Ciscoworks Common Management FoundationApplication
Affected:= 2.1
Ciscoworks Common ServicesApplication
Affected:= 2.2
FreeBSDOperating system
Affected:= 4.8= 4.9= 5.1= 5.2= 5.2.1
Enterprise LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 3.0
Enterprise Linux DesktopOperating system
Affected:= 3.0
LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 7.2= 7.3= 8.0
iOSOperating system
Affected:= 12.1\(11\)e= 12.1\(11b\)e= 12.1\(11b\)e12= 12.1\(11b\)e14= 12.1\(13\)e9= 12.1\(19\)e1= 12.2\(14\)sy= 12.2\(14\)sy1= 12.2sy= 12.2za

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

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

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify the installed OpenSSL version
    Run 'openssl version -a' to display the full version string, or check the package manager (rpm -q openssl for RHEL-based systems, dpkg -l | grep openssl for Debian-based)
    Affected if The version is 0.9.6c through 0.9.6k, or 0.9.7a through 0.9.7c
  2. Determine if SSL/TLS services are exposed
    Run 'netstat -tlnp' or 'ss -tlnp' and look for processes listening on ports 443 (HTTPS), 8443, or other SSL/TLS-enabled ports. Also inspect running services with 'systemctl list-units --type=service' for SSL-enabled services like httpd, nginx, postfix, dovecot
    Affected if Any SSL/TLS-enabled service is running and accepting connections on affected OpenSSL versions
  3. Check for processes using OpenSSL for SSL/TLS
    Run 'lsof -i' or 'ps aux | grep -E '(httpd|nginx|postfix|dovecot|apache|tomcat)' and verify which are linked to the affected OpenSSL libraries in /usr/lib/ or /lib/
    Affected if A daemon process linked to a vulnerable OpenSSL library is running and handling SSL/TLS traffic
  4. Verify Cisco iOS version (if applicable)
    On Cisco iOS devices, run 'show version' from the CLI to display the iOS release number
    Affected if The iOS version matches 12.1(11)e, 12.1(11b)e, 12.1(11b)e12, 12.1(11b)e14, 12.1(13)e9, 12.1(19)e1, 12.2(14)sy, 12.2(14)sy1, 12.2sy, or 12.2za
  5. Verify Red Hat Linux version (if applicable)
    Check /etc/redhat-release or run 'cat /etc/redhat-release' to display the distribution version
    Affected if The version is 7.2, 7.3, 8.0, or Enterprise Linux / Desktop version 3.0
  6. Verify FreeBSD version (if applicable)
    Run 'uname -a' or check /etc/os-release to display the FreeBSD version
    Affected if The version is 4.8, 4.9, 5.1, 5.2, or 5.2.1

You are affected if your system runs OpenSSL versions 0.9.6c-0.9.6k or 0.9.7a-0.9.7c AND exposes any SSL/TLS service, or runs any of the specific Cisco, FreeBSD, or RedHat product versions listed with SSL/TLS enabled.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Upgrade to OpenSSL 0.9.6l, 0.9.7d, or later versions that contain the patch for this vulnerability. For systems that cannot be immediately upgraded, consider using SSL/TLS termination proxies or load balancers to isolate the vulnerability.

Fix this in Firewall Services Module Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
9.0 hours of engineering $1,600
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Scan for this in your stack

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2004-0079 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data