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Adaptive Security Appliance SoftwareOperating system · Cisco

CVE-2026-20014

HIGH · 7.7 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-03-04
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 7.0.9 / 7.2.11 or later.
See remediation →
83/100
Remediation priority · High
Remotely reachable 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 authenticated, remote attacker with valid VPN user credentials 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 the improper processing of IKEv2 packets. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending crafted, authenticated IKEv2 packets to an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to exhaust memory, causing the device to 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

A vulnerability in the IKEv2 feature of Cisco Secure Firewall ASA Software and Cisco Secure FTD Software allows an authenticated, remote attacker with valid VPN user credentials to send crafted IKEv2 packets that cause memory exhaustion, leading to device reload and DoS conditions.

MitigationApply Cisco software updates for ASA and FTD when available; consider implementing rate limiting on IKEv2 connections and monitoring memory usage on affected devices.

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:>= 9.12.1, < 9.16.4.85>= 9.17.1, < 9.18.4.66>= 9.19.1, < 9.20.4>= 9.22.1.1, < 9.22.2.9>= 9.23.1, < 9.23.1.13
Secure Firewall Threat DefenseApplication
Affected:>= 6.4.0, < 7.0.9>= 7.1.0, < 7.2.11>= 7.3.0, < 7.4.3>= 7.6.0, < 7.6.4>= 7.7.0, < 7.7.11

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
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/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 product and installed version
    For ASA: execute 'show version | include ASA' from CLI. For FTD: execute 'show version' or 'show system-info' from FMC or 'show version' from device CLI.
    Affected if The installed version falls within any of the affected ranges: ASA < 9.16.4.85, < 9.18.4.66, < 9.20.4, < 9.22.2.9, < 9.23.1.13; or FTD < 7.0.9, < 7.2.11, < 7.4.3, < 7.6.4, < 7.7.11.
  2. Verify IKEv2 protocol is enabled
    Execute 'show crypto ikev2' or 'show run crypto ikev2' to check if IKEv2 is configured and active.
    Affected if IKEv2 is enabled and configured on the device. If IKEv2 is not present in the output, the device is likely not affected.
  3. Confirm VPN user authentication is configured
    Execute 'show run | include vpn' or check for any remote access VPN configuration via 'show run tunnel-group' and verify user authentication methods (AAA) are set for VPN access.
    Affected if VPN user authentication (local database or external AAA) is configured, allowing remote users to authenticate with valid credentials.
  4. Review current memory utilization
    Execute 'show memory' or 'show memory detail' to capture baseline memory usage. Monitor for unusual growth in memory consumption.
    Affected if Memory usage shows abnormal growth or approaches critical thresholds, which may indicate active exploitation causing memory exhaustion.

A device is affected if it runs a vulnerable ASA or FTD version within the listed ranges AND has IKEv2 enabled with VPN user authentication configured, as the attacker needs valid VPN credentials to trigger the memory exhaustion.

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 7.0.9 / 7.2.11 / 7.4.3 or later
Fixed in 7.0.97.2.117.4.3
Interim mitigation

Apply Cisco software updates for ASA and FTD when available; consider implementing rate limiting on IKEv2 connections and monitoring memory usage on affected devices.

Recommended fix High confidence

ASA: 9.16.4.85, 9.18.4.66, 9.20.4, or 9.22.2.9 (or later); FTD: 7.0.9, 7.2.11, 7.4.3, or 7.6.4 (or later)

  1. 1. Identify the current installed version of Cisco ASA or FTD software using 'show version' command
  2. 2. Determine the applicable upgrade path based on current version and product (ASA vs FTD)
  3. 3. Download the appropriate fixed software release from Cisco.com (requires valid CCO account)
  4. 4. Back up the current device configuration using 'write memory' or backup procedures
  5. 5. Upload the new software image to the device using FTP, SCP, or through the management interface
  6. 6. Configure the device to boot with the new image using 'boot system' command
  7. 7. Reload the device using 'reload' command to apply the new image
  8. 8. After reboot, verify the new version is running with 'show version' and confirm the IKEv2 VPN functionality is operational
Caveat Software upgrades on firewall devices may cause brief service interruption; ensure valid configuration backup and maintenance window before upgrading

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

Fix this in Adaptive Security Appliance Software Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
18.0 hours of engineering $3,200
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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-2026-20014 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