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AsyncosOperating system · Cisco

CVE-2014-3381

MEDIUM · 5.0 CVSS v2.0 Published 2014-10-19
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 8.5 or later.
See remediation →
59/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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 ZIP inspection engine in Cisco AsyncOS 8.5 and earlier on the Cisco Email Security Appliance (ESA) does not properly analyze ZIP archives, which allows remote attackers to bypass malware filtering via a crafted archive, aka Bug ID CSCup07934.

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 ZIP inspection engine in Cisco AsyncOS 8.5 and earlier on the Email Security Appliance (ESA) fails to properly analyze ZIP archives. This allows remote attackers to bypass malware filtering by embedding malicious content in crafted ZIP archives that the inspection engine does not properly decompress or analyze.

MitigationUpgrade to a Cisco AsyncOS version beyond 8.5 that addresses this vulnerability, or implement supplementary email security controls such as additional sandboxing or content disarm until the patch can be applied.

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
AsyncosOperating system
Affected:<= 8.5

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
Partial
Integrity
None
Availability
None

AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:N

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 as a Cisco Email Security Appliance (ESA)
    Confirm the hardware or virtual appliance model is an ESA. From the CLI, run 'show hardware' or check the web interface header for 'Email Security Appliance'.
    Affected if The device is not a Cisco ESA - this vulnerability only affects the ESA product line.
  2. Check the AsyncOS version
    From the ESA CLI, run 'version' or 'show version' to display the installed AsyncOS version. Alternatively, log into the web interface and navigate to System Administration > Software Updates to view the current version.
    Affected if The AsyncOS version is 8.5 or earlier (for example, 8.0, 8.0.1, 8.5, etc.). Versions after 8.5 are not affected.
  3. Verify ZIP inspection is enabled
    From the ESA web interface, go to Security Services > Reputation Filters and check if 'Email Reputation' is enabled, or navigate to Mail Policies > Incoming Mail Policies to see if content filters that inspect ZIP attachments are active. In the CLI, use ' filters' or 'scanconfig' to review active scanning policies.
    Affected if ZIP attachment inspection or content filtering that handles ZIP archives is actively configured and processing incoming email.
  4. Confirm the vulnerability is relevant to your configuration
    Review your mail flow policies to determine if the ESA is set to scan and filter ZIP archives from incoming messages. Check whether 'Virus Detection', 'Advanced Malware Protection', or content filters are applied to incoming attachments.
    Affected if The ESA processes incoming email with attachment scanning enabled, and ZIP archives would be subject to the faulty inspection engine.

A Cisco ESA running AsyncOS version 8.5 or earlier with ZIP attachment inspection or content filtering enabled is affected by this vulnerability.

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
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 8.5
Interim mitigation

Upgrade to a Cisco AsyncOS version beyond 8.5 that addresses this vulnerability, or implement supplementary email security controls such as additional sandboxing or content disarm until the patch can be applied.

Fix this in Asyncos Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation3.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
8.0 hours of engineering $1,420
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An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,272.

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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-2014-3381 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