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Firewall Services Module SoftwarePlugin / extension · Cisco

CVE-2012-0356

HIGH · 7.8 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 →
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
Cisco Adaptive Security Appliances (ASA) 5500 series devices, and the ASA Services Module (ASASM) in Cisco Catalyst 6500 series devices, with software 7.0 through 7.2 before 7.2(5.7), 8.0 before 8.0(5.27), 8.1 before 8.1(2.53), 8.2 before 8.2(5.8), 8.3 before 8.3(2.25), 8.4 before 8.4(2.5), and 8.5 before 8.5(1.2) and the Firewall Services Module (FWSM) 3.1 and 3.2 before 3.2(23) and 4.0 and 4.1 before 4.1(8) in Cisco Catalyst 6500 series devices, when multicast routing is enabled, allow remote attackers to cause a denial of service (device reload) via a crafted IPv4 PIM message, aka Bug IDs CSCtr47517 and CSCtu97367.

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 with multicast routing enabled contain a vulnerability in the PIM (Protocol Independent Multicast) handling code. A remote attacker can send a specially crafted IPv4 PIM packet to cause the device to reload, resulting in denial of service. The vulnerability affects software versions 7.x through 8.5.x before specific patched releases.

MitigationUpgrade Cisco ASA/FWSM software to the patched versions specified (7.2(5.7), 8.0(5.27), 8.1(2.53), 8.2(5.8), 8.3(2.25), 8.4(2.5), 8.5(1.2), 3.2(23), or 4.1(8) or later). If immediate upgrade is not possible, disable multicast routing on affected devices as a compensating control.

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
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\(12\)
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
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

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 device model
    Run 'show version' or 'show hardware' to confirm the device is a Cisco ASA 5500 series, ASA 5500-X series, or Firewall Services Module (FWSM) on a Catalyst 6500 switch
    Affected if Device is an ASA 5500 series or FWSM
  2. Check ASA/FWSM software version
    Run 'show version' and locate the running software version (for ASA, look for 'Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance Software'; for FWSM, look for 'Cisco Firewall Services Module Software')
    Affected if Version is 7.0 through 8.5.x and does not match the patched releases (7.2(5.7), 8.0(5.27), 8.1(2.53), 8.2(5.8), 8.3(2.25), 8.4(2.5), 8.5(1.2) or later; for FWSM, version 3.1(x) before 3.2(23) or 4.1(8)
  3. Verify multicast routing configuration
    Run 'show running-config | include multicast' or 'show run all multicast' to check if multicast routing is enabled globally
    Affected if Multicast routing is enabled (global configuration 'multicast routing' is present)
  4. Check PIM protocol status
    Run 'show ip pim interface' or 'show running-config | include pim' to determine if PIM (Protocol Independent Multicast) is configured on any interfaces
    Affected if PIM is configured on one or more interfaces (interface-level 'pim' command is present)

If the device is an affected ASA or FWSM model, runs a vulnerable software version (7.x-8.5.x or 3.1.x), and has both multicast routing and PIM enabled, the device is vulnerable to CVE-2012-0356.

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/FWSM software to the patched versions specified (7.2(5.7), 8.0(5.27), 8.1(2.53), 8.2(5.8), 8.3(2.25), 8.4(2.5), 8.5(1.2), 3.2(23), or 4.1(8) or later). If immediate upgrade is not possible, disable multicast routing on affected devices as a compensating control.

Fix this in Firewall Services Module Software Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
10.0 hours of engineering $1,790
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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-2012-0356 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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