Secure Firewall Threat DefenseApplication · Cisco
CVE-2022-20730
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 · uneditedA vulnerability in the Security Intelligence feed feature of Cisco Firepower Threat Defense (FTD) Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to bypass the Security Intelligence DNS feed. This vulnerability is due to incorrect feed update processing. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending traffic through an affected device that should be blocked by the affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to bypass device controls and successfully send traffic to devices that are expected to be protected by the affected 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 confidenceA vulnerability in Cisco FTD's Security Intelligence DNS feed feature allows traffic to bypass blocked lists due to incorrect feed update processing. An attacker can send traffic through the affected device that should be blocked by the Security Intelligence controls, successfully reaching protected destinations.
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
< 6.4.0.15>= 6.5.0, < 6.6.5.2>= 6.7.0, < 7.0.2CVSS 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
- High
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Determine installed FTD versionLog into the FTD device via CLI and run the command 'show version' or access via FMC/FDAC web interface to view the system versionAffected if The displayed version falls into any of these ranges: < 6.4.0.15, >= 6.5.0 and < 6.6.5.2, or >= 6.7.0 and < 7.0.2
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Verify Security Intelligence DNS feed is configuredAccess the Firepower Management Center (FMC) or FTD CLI and navigate to Policies > Security Intelligence or run 'show security-intelligence config' to check if DNS-based Security Intelligence feeds are enabledAffected if DNS feed/zone is present in the Security Intelligence policy configuration
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Check Security Intelligence policy assignmentRun 'show security-intelligence policy' or view the assigned policy in FMC under Policies > Access Control to confirm the Security Intelligence policy is applied to trafficAffected if A Security Intelligence policy is actively assigned to an access control rule governing traffic flow
You are affected if your FTD version is within the vulnerable ranges AND Security Intelligence DNS feeds are configured and actively applied to traffic policy.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 · scoped6.4.0.156.6.5.27.0.2
Apply the Cisco vendor patch/Software update for FTD that addresses this Security Intelligence feed processing vulnerability.
Upgrade to FTD 6.4.0.15, 6.6.5.2, or 7.0.2 (or later respective releases)
- 1. Identify the current FTD software version using 'show version' or FMC interface
- 2. Determine the appropriate upgrade path based on current version (6.4.x line, 6.5.x/6.6.x line, or 7.0.x line)
- 3. Download the fixed software image from Cisco (6.4.0.15, 6.6.5.2, or 7.0.2 or later) from cisco.com/downloads
- 4. Upload the new image to Firepower Management Center (FMC) or directly to the FTD device
- 5. Perform a pre-upgrade backup of the configuration
- 6. Install the upgrade following Cisco upgrade procedure (via FMC: Devices > Device Management > Upgrade)
- 7. Verify the upgrade completed successfully with 'show version'
- 8. Confirm Security Intelligence feed functionality is operating correctly
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
Fix this in Secure Firewall Threat Defense
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,328.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2022-20730 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2022-20730 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- 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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