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Adaptive Security Appliance SoftwareOperating system · Cisco

CVE-2026-20013

MEDIUM · 5.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-03-04
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 7.2.11 / 7.4.3 or later.
See remediation →
67/100
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
A vulnerability in the IKEv2 feature of Cisco Secure Firewall ASA Software and Cisco Secure FTD Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to cause a DoS condition on an affected device that may also impact the availability of services to devices elsewhere in the network. This vulnerability is due to memory exhaustion caused by not freeing memory during IKEv2 packet processing. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending crafted IKEv2 packets to an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to exhaust resources, causing a DoS condition that will eventually require the device to manually reload.

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 · moderate confidence

This vulnerability exists in the IKEv2 feature of Cisco Secure Firewall ASA and FTD software. The root cause is memory not being freed during IKEv2 packet processing. An unauthenticated remote attacker can send crafted IKEv2 packets to exhaust memory resources on the affected device, causing a denial-of-service condition that requires manual device reload.

MitigationApply the vendor patch when released by Cisco. In the interim, consider restricting IKEv2 traffic at network boundaries or implementing rate-limiting on IKEv2 connections to reduce exposure.

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:>= 9.18.1, < 9.18.4.66>= 9.19.1, < 9.20.3.20>= 9.22.1.1, < 9.22.2.4>= 9.23.1, < 9.23.1.3
Secure Firewall Threat DefenseApplication
Affected:>= 7.2.0, < 7.2.11>= 7.3.0, < 7.4.3>= 7.6.0, < 7.6.4>= 7.7.0, < 7.7.10

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
Changed
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
Low

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

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 product type and version
    For ASA, run 'show version | include Version' from CLI. For FTD, run 'show version' or access the management center to check the FTD version.
    Affected if The device runs Cisco ASA Software or Cisco Firepower Threat Defense Software in one of the affected version ranges: ASA >= 9.18.1 < 9.18.4.66, >= 9.19.1 < 9.20.3.20, >= 9.22.1.1 < 9.22.2.4, >= 9.23.1 < 9.23.1.3; or FTD >= 7.2.0 < 7.2.11, >= 7.3.0 < 7.4.3, >= 7.6.0 < 7.6.4, >= 7.7.0 < 7.7.10
  2. Determine if IKEv2 is enabled on the device
    Run 'show running-config crypto ikev2' or 'show crypto ikev2 sa' to check for active IKEv2 security associations and configuration.
    Affected if IKEv2 is configured or active on the device, as the vulnerability is triggered during IKEv2 packet processing.
  3. Check for memory exhaustion symptoms
    Run 'show memory' to inspect available system memory. Look for significantly reduced free memory or rapidly depleting memory over time.
    Affected if System memory is severely depleted or shows abnormal consumption patterns that could indicate the memory leak from IKEv2 packet handling.
  4. Inspect crashinfo and logs for IKEv2-related events
    Run 'show crashinfo' and review recent logs with 'show log' for crash dumps or error messages related to IKEv2 processing, memory allocation failures, or unexpected reloads.
    Affected if Recent crash dumps exist or logs show IKEv2 process failures, memory allocation errors, or unexplained device reloads.
  5. Review IKEv2 process health
    Run 'show process' and look for IKEv2-related processes. Check CPU and memory usage of crypto processes over time.
    Affected if IKEv2 or crypto processes show abnormally high memory consumption or are consuming excessive system resources.

A user is affected if they are running an ASA or FTD version within the listed affected ranges AND have IKEv2 enabled or active, combined with observed memory depletion or IKEv2-related process issues.

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 7.2.11 / 7.4.3 / 7.6.4 or later
Fixed in 7.2.117.4.37.6.4
Interim mitigation

Apply the vendor patch when released by Cisco. In the interim, consider restricting IKEv2 traffic at network boundaries or implementing rate-limiting on IKEv2 connections to reduce exposure.

Recommended fix High confidence

ASA: 9.18.4.66, 9.20.3.20, 9.22.2.4, or 9.23.1.3 (or latest 9.24.x); FTD: 7.2.11, 7.4.3, 7.6.4, or 7.7.10 (or latest 7.8.x)

  1. 1. Identify the current Cisco ASA or FTD software version by running 'show version' or checking the device management interface
  2. 2. Determine which software family (ASA or FTD) and version branch is running on the affected device
  3. 3. For ASA devices: upgrade to version 9.18.4.66 or higher (if on 9.18.x), 9.20.3.20 or higher (if on 9.19.x-9.20.x), 9.22.2.4 or higher (if on 9.22.x), or 9.23.1.3 or higher (if on 9.23.x)
  4. 4. For FTD devices: upgrade to version 7.2.11 or higher (if on 7.2.x), 7.4.3 or higher (if on 7.3.x-7.4.x), 7.6.4 or higher (if on 7.6.x), or 7.7.10 or higher (if on 7.7.x)
  5. 5. Download the appropriate fixed software image from Cisco's official download center (software.cisco.com)
  6. 6. Follow Cisco's standard upgrade procedure for ASA or FTD devices, typically via ROMMON, ASDM, or FXOS chassis manager
  7. 7. After upgrade, verify the new version is installed and monitor device resources to confirm the memory leak is resolved
  8. 8. Consider implementing rate limiting on IKEv2 connections as a temporary mitigation if immediate upgrade is not feasible
Caveat Review Cisco release notes for the target version to check for any configuration changes, deprecated features, or compatibility considerations with existing VPN setups

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

Fix this in Adaptive Security Appliance Software Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
10.0 hours of engineering $1,800
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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-2026-20013 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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What belongs here
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