Adaptive Security Appliance SoftwareOperating system · Cisco
CVE-2010-4678
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 · uneditedCisco Adaptive Security Appliances (ASA) 5500 series devices with software before 8.2(3) permit packets to pass before the configuration has been loaded, which might allow remote attackers to bypass intended access restrictions by sending network traffic during device startup, aka Bug ID CSCsy86769.
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 confidenceThe Cisco ASA 5500 series allows network packets to pass through before the device's security configuration has been fully loaded during startup. This creates a time window during boot-up where traffic can bypass intended access restrictions, allowing remote attackers to send traffic through the firewall before protective rules are active.
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
Adaptive Security Appliance SoftwareOperating system
<= 8.2\(2\)= 7.0= 7.0\(0\)= 7.0\(2\)= 7.0\(4\)= 7.0\(5\)= 7.0\(5.2\)= 7.0\(6.7\)= 7.0.1= 7.0.1.4= 7.0.2= 7.0.4
5500 Series Adaptive Security ApplianceHardware / appliance
all versions
Asa 5500Hardware / appliance
all versionsCVSS 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
- Partial
- Integrity
- Partial
- Availability
- Partial
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P
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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify the ASA software versionConnect to the Cisco ASA CLI and run the command 'show version' to display the installed software versionAffected if The displayed version matches one of the affected versions: 7.0, 7.0(0), 7.0(2), 7.0(4), 7.0(5), 7.0(5.2), 7.0(6.7), 7.0.1, 7.0.1.4, 7.0.2, 7.0.4, or any version 8.2(2) or earlier, or if the device is any version of Cisco 5500 Series Adaptive Security Appliance or Cisco ASA 5500
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Confirm the hardware modelRun 'show version' and locate the hardware model information to confirm it is a Cisco ASA 5500 series deviceAffected if The device model is a Cisco ASA 5500 series appliance
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Review startup configuration behaviorDuring a planned maintenance window, observe the device boot sequence and test network access to internal resources immediately after power-on, before the device fully loads its security configurationAffected if Network traffic is able to pass through the ASA before the security configuration is fully active, indicating the vulnerability is present
A user is affected if their Cisco ASA 5500 series device runs software version 7.0.x, 8.2(2) or earlier, or any version of the ASA 5500 series, and traffic can traverse the device before the security policy loads during boot.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 dataUpgrade Cisco ASA software to version 8.2(3) or later to remediate this vulnerability. During the upgrade process, ensure proper change management and schedule maintenance windows to minimize exposure.
Fix this in Adaptive Security Appliance Software
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $5,120.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2010-4678 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2010-4678 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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