dbcve.org
Asa 5500 FirmwareOperating system · Cisco

CVE-2011-2054

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2020-02-19
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
81/100
Remediation priority · High
Remotely reachable 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
A vulnerability in the Cisco ASA that could allow a remote attacker to successfully authenticate using the Cisco AnyConnect VPN client if the Secondary Authentication type is LDAP and the password is left blank, providing the primary credentials are correct. The vulnerabilities is due to improper input validation of certain parameters passed to the affected software. An attacker must have the correct primary credentials in order to successfully exploit this 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 · moderate confidence

Cisco ASA contains an improper input validation vulnerability in the AnyConnect VPN client authentication path. When LDAP is used for Secondary Authentication and the password field is left blank (while primary credentials are valid), the system incorrectly authenticates the attacker. This bypasses the intended secondary authentication checkpoint.

MitigationApply the appropriate Cisco ASA software update or patch that addresses input validation for LDAP secondary authentication parameters. Alternatively, enforce password requirements in LDAP to reject blank passwords and verify the authentication flow with comprehensive testing.

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 5500 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:= 8.4\(1\)
Asa 5510 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:= 8.4\(1\)
Asa 5512 X FirmwareOperating system
Affected:= 8.4\(1\)
Asa 5515 X FirmwareOperating system
Affected:= 8.4\(1\)
Asa 5520 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:= 8.4\(1\)
Asa 5525 X FirmwareOperating system
Affected:= 8.4\(1\)
Asa 5540 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:= 8.4\(1\)
Asa 5545 X FirmwareOperating system
Affected:= 8.4\(1\)

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
High
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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 Cisco ASA firmware version
    Run the command 'show version' on the ASA CLI or check via ASDM to retrieve the installed firmware version.
    Affected if The firmware version is exactly 8.4(1) on any of the affected models (ASA 5500, 5510, 5512-X, 5515-X, 5520, 5525-X, 5540, 5545-X).
  2. Verify AnyConnect VPN is enabled
    Check the ASA configuration for AnyConnect using 'show run webvpn' or via ASDM under Remote Access VPN > AnyConnect Client Profile.
    Affected if AnyConnect VPN is active and configured on the device.
  3. Confirm LDAP is configured for secondary authentication
    Run 'show run aaa-server' to list AAA server configurations, then examine the authentication and authorization policies for secondary authentication using 'show run' commands related to AAA or via ASDM under Remote Access VPN > AAA Setup.
    Affected if LDAP is configured as an authentication server for secondary (or second) authentication in the AnyConnect connection profile.
  4. Inspect secondary authentication configuration for blank password handling
    Review the AAA authentication and authorization settings for the AnyConnect connection profile. Look for 'authentication-server-group' and 'authorization-server-group' commands, specifically examining whether secondary authentication is configured with LDAP and how it handles password validation.
    Affected if LDAP-based secondary authentication is configured and the system may accept blank passwords for the secondary authentication attempt.

The environment is affected if the Cisco ASA runs firmware 8.4(1), has AnyConnect VPN enabled, and uses LDAP for secondary authentication, allowing the blank password bypass.

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

Apply the appropriate Cisco ASA software update or patch that addresses input validation for LDAP secondary authentication parameters. Alternatively, enforce password requirements in LDAP to reject blank passwords and verify the authentication flow with comprehensive testing.

Fix this in Asa 5500 Firmware Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
16.0 hours of engineering $2,740
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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-2011-2054 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
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