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Adaptive Security Appliance SoftwareOperating system · Cisco

CVE-2012-0354

HIGH · 7.1 CVSS v2.0 Published 2012-03-15
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
80/100
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 Threat Detection feature on Cisco Adaptive Security Appliances (ASA) 5500 series devices, and the ASA Services Module (ASASM) in Cisco Catalyst 6500 series devices, with software 8.0 through 8.2 before 8.2(5.20), 8.3 before 8.3(2.29), 8.4 before 8.4(3), 8.5 before 8.5(1.6), and 8.6 before 8.6(1.1) allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (device reload) via (1) IPv4 or (2) IPv6 packets that trigger a shun event, aka Bug ID CSCtw35765.

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 Threat Detection feature on Cisco ASA 5500 series and ASA Services Module in Catalyst 6500 devices contains a denial of service vulnerability. When specially crafted IPv4 or IPv6 packets trigger a shun event, the device unexpectedly reloads rather than properly handling the threat. This affects software versions 8.0 through 8.6 before the specified patched releases.

MitigationUpdate Cisco ASA software to version 8.2(5.20), 8.3(2.29), 8.4(3), 8.5(1.6), 8.6(1.1) or later. Prior to updating, assess network impact and schedule a maintenance window to minimize disruption.

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:= 8.0= 8.0\(2\)= 8.0\(3\)= 8.0\(4\)= 8.0\(5\)= 8.0.2= 8.0.3= 8.0.4= 8.0.5= 8.1= 8.2\(1\)= 8.2\(2\)
5500 Series Adaptive Security ApplianceHardware / appliance
Affected:all versions
Catalyst 6500Hardware / appliance
Affected:all versions
Catalyst 6503 EHardware / appliance
Affected:all versions
Catalyst 6504 EHardware / appliance
Affected:all versions
Catalyst 6506 EHardware / appliance
Affected:all versions
Catalyst 6509 EHardware / appliance
Affected:all versions
Catalyst 6509 Neb AHardware / 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
M
Authentication
None
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
Complete

AV:N/AC:M/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
    Use 'show version' or 'show hardware' command to confirm the device is a Cisco ASA 5500 series Adaptive Security Appliance or a Catalyst 6500 series switch with ASA Services Module
    Affected if Device is not an ASA 5500 series or Catalyst 6500 with ASA Services Module - these are the only affected products
  2. Check the ASA software version
    Run 'show version' and locate the 'Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance Software' version number. Compare it against the affected range of 8.0 through 8.6, noting that patched versions 8.2(5.20), 8.3(2.29), 8.4(3), 8.5(1.6), and 8.6(1.1) or later are not vulnerable
    Affected if The installed version falls between 8.0 and 8.6 but is earlier than the patched releases listed above
  3. Verify if Threat Detection is enabled
    Run 'show threat-detection statistics' or 'show running-config threat-detection' to check whether the Threat Detection feature is currently active on the device
    Affected if Threat Detection is enabled - the vulnerability only triggers when specially crafted packets cause a shun event while Threat Detection is active
  4. Confirm the device processes IPv4 or IPv6 traffic that could trigger shun events
    Review the device configuration with 'show running-config' to determine if the ASA is actively filtering or inspecting IPv4 and/or IPv6 traffic flows that could generate shun events
    Affected if The device is configured to process IPv4 or IPv6 traffic where malicious packets could trigger shun events

The device is affected if it is a Cisco ASA 5500 series or Catalyst 6500 with ASA Services Module running software version 8.0-8.6 (before the patched releases) with Threat Detection enabled and actively processing IPv4/IPv6 traffic that could generate shun events.

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

Update Cisco ASA software to version 8.2(5.20), 8.3(2.29), 8.4(3), 8.5(1.6), 8.6(1.1) or later. Prior to updating, assess network impact and schedule a maintenance window to minimize disruption.

Fix this in Adaptive Security Appliance Software Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation3.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
11.0 hours of engineering $1,950
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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-2012-0354 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