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Adaptive Security Appliance SoftwareOperating system · Cisco

CVE-2011-3298

HIGH · 7.9 CVSS v2.0 Published 2011-10-06
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
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
Cisco Adaptive Security Appliances (ASA) 5500 series devices, and the ASA Services module in Cisco Catalyst 6500 series devices, with software 7.0 before 7.0(8.13), 7.1 and 7.2 before 7.2(5.3), 8.0 before 8.0(5.24), 8.1 before 8.1(2.50), 8.2 before 8.2(5), 8.3 before 8.3(2.18), 8.4 before 8.4(1.10), and 8.5 before 8.5(1.1) and Cisco Firewall Services Module (aka FWSM) 3.1 before 3.1(21), 3.2 before 3.2(22), 4.0 before 4.0(16), and 4.1 before 4.1(7) allow remote attackers to bypass authentication via a crafted TACACS+ reply, aka Bug IDs CSCto40365 and CSCto74274.

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

Cisco ASA 5500 series and FWSM devices contain an authentication bypass vulnerability in the TACACS+ authentication handling. Remote attackers can send a crafted TACACS+ reply packet to bypass authentication and gain unauthorized access to the security appliance. This affects both the ASA platform and the Firewall Services Module in Catalyst 6500 switches.

MitigationUpgrade Cisco ASA software to version 7.0(8.13), 7.2(5.3), 8.0(5.24), 8.1(2.50), 8.2(5), 8.3(2.18), 8.4(1.10), or 8.5(1.1) and later, and upgrade FWSM to 3.1(21), 3.2(22), 4.0(16), 4.1(7) or later. If immediate patching is not possible, consider implementing additional network-level controls to restrict TACACS+ traffic to trusted sources.

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
Affected:= 7.0= 7.0\(0\)= 7.0\(1\)= 7.0\(2\)= 7.0\(4\)= 7.0\(5\)= 7.0\(5.2\)= 7.0\(6\)= 7.0\(6.7\)= 7.0\(7\)= 7.0\(8\)= 7.0.1
5500 Series Adaptive Security ApplianceHardware / appliance
Affected:all versions
Asa 5500Hardware / appliance
Affected:all versions
Firewall Services Module SoftwarePlugin / extension
Affected:= 3.1= 3.1\(2\)= 3.1\(3\)= 3.1\(4\)= 3.1\(5\)= 3.1\(6\)= 3.1\(7\)= 3.1\(8\)= 3.1\(9\)= 3.1\(10\)= 3.1\(11\)= 3.1\(12\)
Catalyst 6500Hardware / appliance
Affected:all versions
Catalyst 7600Hardware / 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
Adjacent
Complexity
M
Authentication
None
Confidentiality
Complete
Integrity
Complete
Availability
Complete

AV:A/AC:M/Au:N/C:C/I:C/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
    Run 'show version' or 'show hardware' to confirm the device is a Cisco ASA 5500 series, ASA 5500-X series, or FWSM in a Catalyst 6500/7600 switch
    Affected if Device is an ASA 5500 series or FWSM module (exact model appears in the output)
  2. Check the ASA software version
    Run 'show version' and locate the 'Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance Software' version line
    Affected if Version starts with 7.0 followed by any of: (0), (1), (2), (4), (5), (5.2), (6), (6.7), (7), (8), or 7.0.1 - or if it is any version of Cisco ASA 5500 series (8.x, 9.x, etc.) since 'all versions' are listed as affected
  3. Check the FWSM software version
    For FWSM, run 'show module' from the Catalyst switch or 'show version' on the FWSM
    Affected if Version is 3.1, 3.1(2), 3.1(3), 3.1(4), 3.1(5), 3.1(6), 3.1(7), 3.1(8), 3.1(9), 3.1(10), 3.1(11), or 3.1(12)
  4. Verify TACACS+ authentication is configured
    Run 'show running-config | include tacacs' or 'show aaa server' to check if TACACS+ servers are defined and used for authentication
    Affected if TACACS+ server is configured and assigned as the authentication method (aaa authentication command, login, etc.)
  5. Confirm the device is using TACACS+ for administrative access
    Run 'show running-config | include aaa authentication' to see which services use TACACS+ authentication
    Affected if TACACS+ is used for any login, enable, or administrative authentication (such as 'aaa authentication ssh console tacacs+' or similar)

A user is affected if they have a vulnerable ASA 5500 series or FWSM device running the listed versions AND have TACACS+ authentication enabled and in use for device access.

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 7.0(8.13), 7.2(5.3), 8.0(5.24), 8.1(2.50), 8.2(5), 8.3(2.18), 8.4(1.10), or 8.5(1.1) and later, and upgrade FWSM to 3.1(21), 3.2(22), 4.0(16), 4.1(7) or later. If immediate patching is not possible, consider implementing additional network-level controls to restrict TACACS+ traffic to trusted sources.

Fix this in Adaptive Security Appliance Software Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation6.0 h
  • Implementation12.0 h
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
30.0 hours of engineering $5,280
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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-2011-3298 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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What belongs here
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