dbcve.org
Secure Firewall Threat DefenseApplication · Cisco

CVE-2020-3298

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2020-05-06
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 6.2.3.16 / 6.3.0.6 or later.
See remediation →
84/100
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
A vulnerability in the Open Shortest Path First (OSPF) implementation of Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software and Cisco Firepower Threat Defense (FTD) Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to cause the reload of an affected device, resulting in a denial of service (DoS) condition. The vulnerability is due to improper memory protection mechanisms while processing certain OSPF packets. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a series of malformed OSPF packets in a short period of time to an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause a reload of the affected device, resulting in a DoS condition for client traffic that is traversing the device.

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

Memory corruption vulnerability in Cisco ASA and FTD OSPF packet processing. Improper memory protection during handling of malformed OSPF packets allows an unauthenticated remote attacker to trigger device reload, causing denial of service.

MitigationApply Cisco security updates for ASA and FTD software. As a compensating control, restrict OSPF peering to trusted neighbors at network edge if software update is not immediately feasible.

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
Secure Firewall Threat DefenseApplication
Affected:>= 6.2.0, < 6.2.3.16>= 6.3.0, < 6.3.0.6>= 6.4.0, < 6.4.0.9>= 6.5.0, < 6.5.0.5
Adaptive Security Appliance SoftwareOperating system
Affected:>= 9.6.0, <= 9.6.4.40>= 9.8.0, <= 9.8.4.17>= 9.9.0, <= 9.9.2.66>= 9.10.0, <= 9.10.1.37>= 9.12.0, <= 9.12.3.7>= 9.13.0, <= 9.13.1.7

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
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

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 type and software platform
    Log into the device CLI and run 'show version' to determine if the device is running Cisco ASA Software or Cisco Firepower Threat Defense (FTD)
    Affected if The device runs ASA or FTD software - this vulnerability only affects these platforms
  2. Check the installed software version
    On ASA, run 'show version | include Version'. On FTD, run 'show version' or check via Firepower Management Center. Record the full version number (e.g., 9.8.4.17, 6.4.0.8)
    Affected if The version falls within any of the affected ranges: ASA 9.6.0-9.6.4.40, 9.8.0-9.8.4.17, 9.9.0-9.9.2.66, 9.10.0-9.10.1.37, 9.12.0-9.12.3.7, 9.13.0-9.13.1.7 OR FTD 6.2.0-6.2.3.15, 6.3.0-6.3.0.5, 6.4.0-6.4.0.8, 6.5.0-6.5.0.4
  3. Verify OSPF is enabled and configured
    Run 'show ospf' or 'show running-config | include ospf' on ASA. On FTD, check OSPF configuration via 'show ospf' or through Firepower Management Center under Device > Routing
    Affected if OSPF process is configured and active on the device - the vulnerability is triggered by processing malformed OSPF packets, so OSPF must be running for exploitation
  4. Confirm OSPF neighbor relationships exist
    Run 'show ospf neighbor' to list active OSPF neighbors. Also check 'show ospf interface' to see which interfaces have OSPF enabled
    Affected if There are active OSPF neighbors or OSPF is advertised on any interface - this indicates the device is actively processing OSPF traffic that could contain malformed packets

The device is affected if it runs vulnerable ASA or FTD software versions AND has OSPF protocol enabled and configured, regardless of whether OSPF neighbors are currently established.

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 6.2.3.16 / 6.3.0.6 / 6.4.0.9 or later
Fixed in 6.2.3.166.3.0.66.4.0.9
Interim mitigation

Apply Cisco security updates for ASA and FTD software. As a compensating control, restrict OSPF peering to trusted neighbors at network edge if software update is not immediately feasible.

Fix this in Secure Firewall Threat Defense Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation3.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
13.0 hours of engineering $2,300
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,680.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-3298 — 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-2020-3298 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