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Adaptive Security Appliance SoftwareOperating system · Cisco

CVE-2013-5508

HIGH · 7.1 CVSS v2.0 Published 2013-10-13
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 SQL*Net inspection engine in Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software 7.x before 7.2(5.12), 8.x before 8.2(5.44), 8.3.x before 8.3(2.39), 8.4.x before 8.4(6), 8.5.x before 8.5(1.18), 8.6.x before 8.6(1.12), 8.7.x before 8.7(1.6), 9.0.x before 9.0(2.10), and 9.1.x before 9.1(2) and Firewall Services Module (FWSM) 3.1.x and 3.2.x before 3.2(27) and 4.x before 4.1(14) allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (device reload) via crafted segmented Transparent Network Substrate (TNS) packets, aka Bug ID CSCub98434.

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

A denial of service vulnerability in Cisco ASA and FWSM SQL*Net inspection engines allows remote attackers to cause device reload by sending crafted segmented Transparent Network Substrate (TNS) packets. The vulnerability is in the inspection engine's handling of specially crafted Oracle database traffic.

MitigationUpgrade Cisco ASA Software to version 7.2(5.12), 8.2(5.44), 8.3(2.39), 8.4(6), 8.5(1.18), 8.6(1.12), 8.7(1.6), 9.0(2.10), or 9.1(2) or later; for FWSM upgrade to 3.2(27) or 4.1(14) or later. If the SQL*Net inspection is not required, it can be disabled as a workaround.

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
Firewall Services Module SoftwarePlugin / extension
Affected:= 4.1\(1\)= 4.1\(2\)= 4.1\(3\)= 4.1\(4\)= 4.1\(5\)= 4.1\(6\)= 4.1\(7\)= 4.1\(8\)= 4.1\(9\)= 4.1\(10\)= 4.1\(11\)= 4.1\(12\)

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 product and version
    Log into the device and run 'show version' to display the running Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance Software or Firewall Services Module Software version
    Affected if The displayed version matches any of the affected 7.0.x versions for ASA or 4.1.x versions for FWSM as listed in the CVE
  2. Confirm SQL*Net inspection is enabled
    Examine the device configuration by running 'show run | include inspect sqlnet' or reviewing the policy-map configuration for SQL*Net inspection entries
    Affected if SQL*Net inspection (inspect sqlnet) is present and enabled in the active configuration
  3. Check if TNS traffic processing is active
    Review the inspection policy to determine if Oracle/TNS traffic is being processed through the inspection engine; use 'show run | include TNS' or examine the class-map for inspect traffic
    Affected if TNS/Oracle traffic is being passed through the SQL*Net inspection engine

The device is affected if it runs an ASA 7.0.x or FWSM 4.1.x version and has SQL*Net inspection enabled, allowing specially crafted TNS packets to trigger the denial of service.

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 7.2(5.12), 8.2(5.44), 8.3(2.39), 8.4(6), 8.5(1.18), 8.6(1.12), 8.7(1.6), 9.0(2.10), or 9.1(2) or later; for FWSM upgrade to 3.2(27) or 4.1(14) or later. If the SQL*Net inspection is not required, it can be disabled as a workaround.

Fix this in Adaptive Security Appliance Software Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
13.0 hours of engineering $2,330
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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-2013-5508 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