dbcve.org
Asa 5500Hardware / appliance · Cisco

CVE-2010-0149

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v2.0 Published 2010-02-19
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
87/100
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
Unspecified vulnerability in Cisco ASA 5500 Series Adaptive Security Appliance 7.2 before 7.2(4.46), 8.0 before 8.0(4.38), 8.1 before 8.1(2.29), and 8.2 before 8.2(1.5); and Cisco PIX 500 Series Security Appliance; allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (prevention of new connections) via crafted TCP segments during termination of the TCP connection that cause the connection to remain in CLOSEWAIT status, aka "TCP Connection Exhaustion Denial of Service Vulnerability."

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

A vulnerability in Cisco ASA 5500 Series and PIX 500 Series security appliances allows remote attackers to cause denial of service by sending crafted TCP segments during connection termination that leave connections stuck in CLOSEWAIT status, exhausting available TCP connections and preventing new connections.

MitigationUpgrade Cisco ASA software to version 7.2(4.46), 8.0(4.38), 8.1(2.29), or 8.2(1.5) or later; for PIX appliances, apply the appropriate fixed version. If immediate upgrade is not possible, implement rate limiting on external interfaces and monitor for CLOSEWAIT connection accumulation.

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
Asa 5500Hardware / appliance
Affected:= 7.1= 7.2= 8.0= 8.1= 8.2
Pix 500Hardware / appliance
Affected:all versions

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
Authentication
None
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
Complete

AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:C

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 device model
    Access the device console or management interface and run 'show version' or check the physical device label to confirm it is a Cisco ASA 5500 Series or PIX 500 Series security appliance.
    Affected if The device is not an ASA 5500 or PIX 500 series - if it is a different model, this CVE does not apply.
  2. Check the installed software version
    Run the command 'show version' on the device and locate the Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance Software version or PIX Software version number.
    Affected if The installed version is 7.1, 7.2, 8.0, 8.1, or 8.2 for ASA 5500 series, or any version for PIX 500 series.
  3. Verify TCP connection states
    Run the command 'show conn' or 'show conn count' to display active connections and their states. Look for connections stuck in CLOSEWAIT status.
    Affected if A large number of connections are stuck in CLOSEWAIT state, which indicates potential exploitation of this vulnerability.
  4. Check for connection limit exhaustion
    Run 'show conn' and observe if the total connection count approaches the device's maximum capacity, or run 'show resource connection' if available.
    Affected if The device is unable to accept new TCP connections and the connection table is full or nearly full.

The device is affected if it is an ASA 5500 or PIX 500 running an affected version (7.1-8.2 for ASA, any for PIX) AND there are symptoms of CLOSEWAIT connection accumulation or connection exhaustion.

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 Cisco ASA software to version 7.2(4.46), 8.0(4.38), 8.1(2.29), or 8.2(1.5) or later; for PIX appliances, apply the appropriate fixed version. If immediate upgrade is not possible, implement rate limiting on external interfaces and monitor for CLOSEWAIT connection accumulation.

Fix this in Asa 5500 Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation3.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
10.0 hours of engineering $1,820
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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-2010-0149 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

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What belongs here
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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