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Firepower Services Software For AsaApplication · Cisco

CVE-2022-20918

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-11-15
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 7.0.5 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 Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) access controls for Cisco FirePOWER Software for Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) FirePOWER module, Cisco Firepower Management Center (FMC) Software, and Cisco Next-Generation Intrusion Prevention System (NGIPS) Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to perform an SNMP GET request using a default credential. This vulnerability is due to the presence of a default credential for SNMP version 1 (SNMPv1) and SNMP version 2 (SNMPv2). An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending an SNMPv1 or SNMPv2 GET request to an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to retrieve sensitive information from the device using the default credential. This attack will only be successful if SNMP is configured, and the attacker can only perform SNMP GET requests; write access using SNMP is not allowed.

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 default SNMP community string exists in Cisco FirePOWER, Firepower Management Center, and NGIPS software. An unauthenticated remote attacker can send SNMPv1 or SNMPv2 GET requests using this default credential to retrieve sensitive system information from affected devices, but only if SNMP is configured and the attacker has network access to the device.

MitigationDisable unused SNMP services or change default SNMP community strings to strong, unique values. If SNMP is required, migrate to SNMPv3 which supports authentication and encryption.

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
Firepower Services Software For AsaApplication
Affected:all versions
Secure Firewall Management CenterApplication
Affected:>= 7.0.0, < 7.0.5

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

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/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 product and version
    Run 'show version' or access the management console to determine if the device is Cisco Firepower Services Software for ASA or Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center (formerly Firepower Management Center). For FMC, run 'show version' to get the exact version number.
    Affected if Device is Cisco Firepower Services Software for ASA (any version) OR Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center version 7.0.0 through 7.0.4 inclusive
  2. Check if SNMP is enabled
    Run 'show snmp-server' or 'show running-config | include snmp' from the CLI. Alternatively, access the management center web UI and navigate to System > Integration > SNMP to verify SNMP server status.
    Affected if SNMP is enabled and configured on the device
  3. Verify SNMP community string configuration
    Run 'show snmp-server community' to list all configured SNMP community strings. Check for default or well-known community strings such as 'public', 'private', or Cisco default strings.
    Affected if A default or weak SNMP community string is configured (e.g., 'public', 'private', or the Cisco default)
  4. Confirm SNMP version in use
    Run 'show snmp-server group' and 'show snmp-server user' to check which SNMP versions are configured. SNMPv1 and SNMPv2c are vulnerable; SNMPv3 with auth/priv is not.
    Affected if SNMPv1 or SNMPv2c is configured and in use

Device is affected if it is one of the listed products/versions AND has SNMP enabled with a default community string using SNMPv1 or v2c, making it accessible to network attackers.

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
Upgrade available Upgrade to 7.0.5 or later
Fixed in 7.0.5
Interim mitigation

Disable unused SNMP services or change default SNMP community strings to strong, unique values. If SNMP is required, migrate to SNMPv3 which supports authentication and encryption.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Secure Firewall Management Center: 7.0.5 or later; Firepower Services Software for ASA: Contact Cisco for specific fixed version

  1. 1. Identify all Cisco Firepower and Secure Firewall Management Center devices in the environment
  2. 2. Check current SNMP configuration on affected devices to determine if SNMPv1 or SNMPv2 is enabled
  3. 3. If SNMP is enabled, disable SNMPv1 and SNMPv2 and migrate to SNMPv3 which supports authentication and encryption
  4. 4. If SNMPv3 is not feasible, change the default community string to a strong, unique value and restrict SNMP access to authorized management stations via ACLs
  5. 5. For Secure Firewall Management Center, upgrade to version 7.0.5 or later as this version range (>=7.0.0,<7.0.5) indicates the fix is in 7.0.5
  6. 6. Verify the fix by confirming the default credential no longer works and SNMP access requires proper authentication

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

Fix this in Firepower Services Software For Asa Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
14.0 hours of engineering $2,540
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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-2022-20918 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