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Adaptive Security Appliance SoftwareOperating system · Cisco

CVE-2012-6395

MEDIUM · 6.3 CVSS v2.0 Published 2013-01-18
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
69/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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
Cisco Adaptive Security Appliances (ASA) devices with firmware 8.4 do not properly validate unspecified input related to UNC share pathnames, which allows remote authenticated users to cause a denial of service (device crash) via unknown vectors, aka Bug ID CSCuc65775.

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 devices running firmware 8.4 fail to properly validate input related to UNC share pathnames (Windows network share paths). This improper input validation allows any remote authenticated user to send specially crafted requests containing malicious UNC paths, causing the ASA device to crash and result in a denial of service condition.

MitigationUpgrade Cisco ASA firmware to a version beyond 8.4 that addresses this vulnerability. As an interim control, limit administrative access to only trusted, authenticated users and monitor for repeated authentication attempts that may indicate exploitation attempts.

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:= 8.4
Adaptive Security ApplianceHardware / appliance
Affected:all versions
Asa 1000v Cloud FirewallHardware / appliance
Affected:all versions
Asa 5500Hardware / 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
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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify Cisco ASA device model
    Use the 'show version' command or check the physical device label to confirm the model is Cisco ASA, ASA 1000v, or ASA 5500 series
    Affected if Device model is any Cisco ASA, ASA 1000v, or ASA 5500 series
  2. Check firmware version
    Execute 'show version' on the ASA CLI and locate the 'System image file' or 'Version' line
    Affected if Firmware version is 8.4 or any version on an ASA 1000v or ASA 5500 series device
  3. Verify remote management access is enabled
    Check the running configuration with 'show run' and look for 'http server enable', 'ssh', or 'telnet' commands indicating remote management interfaces are active
    Affected if Remote management (HTTP, SSH, or telnet) is enabled and accessible
  4. Check if management interface is exposed to untrusted networks
    Review the 'show run' output for interface assignments - specifically whether management interfaces have IP addresses on externally accessible networks or are behind proper ACLs
    Affected if Management interface has an IP address routable from untrusted networks or lacks ACL restrictions
  5. Confirm external authentication is configured
    Examine 'aaa authentication' commands in the configuration with 'show run' to see if external TACACS or RADIUS authentication is enabled for administrative access
    Affected if External authentication is configured, allowing remote authenticated users to access the device

The environment is affected if the device is a Cisco ASA (any model, any version) with remote management enabled and accessible from the network where attackers could send malicious UNC path requests.

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 firmware to a version beyond 8.4 that addresses this vulnerability. As an interim control, limit administrative access to only trusted, authenticated users and monitor for repeated authentication attempts that may indicate exploitation attempts.

Fix this in Adaptive Security Appliance Software Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
22.0 hours of engineering $3,860
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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-2012-6395 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
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