dbcve.org
Adaptive Security Appliance SoftwareOperating system · Cisco

CVE-2013-5511

HIGH · 10.0 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 →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
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 Adaptive Security Device Management (ASDM) remote-management feature in Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software 8.2.x before 8.2(5.46), 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(1.7), 9.0.x before 9.0(3.1), and 9.1.x before 9.1(2.6) does not properly implement the authentication-certificate option, which allows remote attackers to bypass authentication via a TCP session to an ASDM interface, aka Bug ID CSCuh44815.

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 ASDM remote management feature in Cisco ASA Software fails to properly implement the authentication-certificate option, allowing unauthenticated remote attackers to establish TCP sessions to the ASDM interface and completely bypass authentication mechanisms.

MitigationUpgrade Cisco ASA Software to the fixed versions (8.2(5.46), 8.3(2.39), 8.4(6), 8.5(1.18), 8.6(1.12), 8.7(1.7), 9.0(3.1), or 9.1(2.6) or later. If immediate upgrade is not feasible, disable ASDM remote management or restrict ASDM access to trusted IP addresses via access control lists.

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:= 8.2= 8.2\(1\)= 8.2\(2\)= 8.2\(3\)= 8.2\(3.9\)= 8.2\(4\)= 8.2\(4.1\)= 8.2\(4.4\)= 8.2\(5\)= 8.2\(5.35\)= 8.2\(5.38\)= 8.2.1

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
Complete
Integrity
Complete
Availability
Complete

AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/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 and version
    Log into the ASA CLI and run 'show version' to display the running software version. Alternatively, check via ASDM by going to Home > Device Dashboard > Device Information.
    Affected if The displayed version matches one of the affected versions: 8.2, 8.2(1), 8.2(2), 8.2(3), 8.2(3.9), 8.2(4), 8.2(4.1), 8.2(4.4), 8.2(5), 8.2(5.35), 8.2(5.38), or 8.2.1
  2. Verify ASDM remote management is enabled
    Run 'show run http' or 'show run all http' from the ASA CLI to display HTTP server configuration and which IP addresses are permitted to access ASDM.
    Affected if HTTP server is enabled (output shows 'http server enable' or similar) and ASDM is accessible from untrusted networks (0.0.0.0 or non-restricted IP ranges)
  3. Confirm ASDM management interface accessibility
    Run 'show interface ip brief' to identify which interfaces have IP addresses configured, then check if the ASDM HTTP port (default 443) is accessible from outside trusted networks.
    Affected if The ASA interface with ASDM HTTP server enabled is exposed to untrusted networks (such as outside/Internet-facing interfaces)
  4. Check authentication certificate configuration
    Run 'show run all | include crypto' to examine certificate-related configuration. Use 'show asp drop' to identify any unusual connection drops related to ASDM.
    Affected if The device is configured to use certificate-based authentication for ASDM (authentication-certificate option configured) but unauthenticated connections can still be established to the ASDM interface

The device is affected if it runs a Cisco ASA version listed in 8.2.x and has ASDM remote management enabled with the authentication-certificate option, allowing remote unauthenticated access to the ASDM interface.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Upgrade Cisco ASA Software to the fixed versions (8.2(5.46), 8.3(2.39), 8.4(6), 8.5(1.18), 8.6(1.12), 8.7(1.7), 9.0(3.1), or 9.1(2.6) or later. If immediate upgrade is not feasible, disable ASDM remote management or restrict ASDM access to trusted IP addresses via access control lists.

Recommended fix High confidence

ASA 8.2(5.46) or later (preferably migrate to 8.4(6)+ or 9.x for longer support)

  1. 1. Identify the current ASA software version by running 'show version' on the ASA CLI
  2. 2. Schedule a maintenance window for the upgrade procedure
  3. 3. Download Cisco ASA software version 8.2(5.46) or later from the Cisco Software Download Center (requires valid Cisco service contract)
  4. 4. Upload the new software image to the ASA flash memory using TFTP, FTP, or SCP
  5. 5. Configure the ASA to boot from the new image using 'boot system flash:/image-name.bin'
  6. 6. Reload the ASA device to apply the new software version
  7. 7. After reload, verify the running version is 8.2(5.46) or later using 'show version'
  8. 8. Test ASDM access to confirm the authentication-certificate option is now properly enforced
Caveat ASA software upgrades may introduce command syntax changes; verify existing configurations and ASDM certificate settings after upgrade

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Adaptive Security Appliance Software Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
20.0 hours of engineering $3,500
Get help mitigating

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $5,600.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2013-5511 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

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-2013-5511 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

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