Adaptive Security Appliance SoftwareOperating system · Cisco
CVE-2012-5717
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) devices with firmware 8.x through 8.4(1) do not properly manage SSH sessions, which allows remote authenticated users to cause a denial of service (device crash) by establishing multiple sessions, aka Bug ID CSCtc59462.
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 confidenceCisco Adaptive Security Appliances (ASA) devices running firmware versions 8.x through 8.4(1) have improper SSH session management. Authenticated remote users can establish multiple concurrent SSH sessions to trigger a device crash, resulting in denial of service.
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
= 8.0= 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= 8.2\(1\)
Adaptive Security ApplianceHardware / appliance
all versions
Asa 1000v Cloud FirewallHardware / 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
- M
- Authentication
- Single
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- Complete
AV:N/AC:M/Au:S/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify the device modelLog into the ASA and run 'show version' or check the device startup banner to confirm it is a Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA), ASA 1000v Cloud Firewall, or ASA 5500 series deviceAffected if The device is any of these Cisco ASA product lines
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Check the firmware versionRun 'show version' and locate the firmware version string (typically displayed as 'Version 8.x(x)')Affected if The firmware version is 8.0 through 8.4(1), or any version listed in the affected products (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, 8.2(1))
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Verify SSH is enabledRun 'show ssh' or 'show running-config | include ssh' to check if SSH management access is configured on the deviceAffected if SSH is enabled and accessible to authenticated remote users
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Confirm management access configurationRun 'show running-config management-access' or 'show running-config | include management' to verify SSH is allowed as a management protocolAffected if SSH is configured as a management access method without adequate session limits
If the device is a Cisco ASA running firmware version 8.0 through 8.4(1) and has SSH management access enabled, the device is vulnerable to denial of service via concurrent SSH session exhaustion.
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 firmware to a version beyond 8.4(1). Additionally, implement SSH session limits per user and apply management access control lists to restrict SSH access to trusted management networks.
Fix this in Adaptive Security Appliance Software
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 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 $3,408.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2012-5717 — 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-2012-5717 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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