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Vulnerabilities

Vulnerability · CVE-2024-20359

Cisco ASA and FTD Privilege Escalation Vulnerability

Published Apr 24, 2024 · catalog updated Aug 11, 2026 · Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) and Firepower Threat Defense (FTD)

Patch now

CVE-2024-20359 is in the CISA known-exploited catalog, due May 1, 2024. Confirm Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) and Firepower Threat Defense (FTD) against the vendor advisory and apply that fix. The CVSS score does not change the priority.

Severity
Medium6.0
Known exploitation
CISA KEV and VulnCheck KEV
EPSS
19.43%
Remediation
Remediation guidance
Affected products
cpe cisco/adaptive security appliance software · cpe cisco/secure firewall threat defense · vendor Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) and Firepower Threat Defense (FTD)

A vulnerability in a legacy capability that allowed for the preloading of VPN clients and plug-ins and that has been available in Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software and Cisco Firepower Threat Defense (FTD) Software could allow an authenticated, local attacker to execute arbitrary code with root-level privileges. Administrator-level privileges are required to exploit this vulnerability. This vulnerability is due to improper validation of a file when it is read from system flash memory. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by copying a crafted file to the disk0: file system of an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary code on the affected device after the next reload of the device, which could alter system behavior. Because the injected code could persist across device reboots, Cisco has raised the Security Impact Rating (SIR) of this advisory from Medium to High.

Are you affected?

Enter the version you run. The result uses only the ranges stored on this record.

The check returns affected, not affected, or incomplete. It does not guess a version that is missing from the record.

  • cpe cisco/adaptive security appliance software9.8.1
  • cpe cisco/adaptive security appliance software9.8.1.5
  • cpe cisco/adaptive security appliance software9.8.1.7
  • cpe cisco/adaptive security appliance software9.8.2
  • cpe cisco/adaptive security appliance software9.8.2.14
  • cpe cisco/adaptive security appliance software9.8.2.15
  • cpe cisco/adaptive security appliance software9.8.2.17
  • cpe cisco/adaptive security appliance software9.8.2.8
  • cpe cisco/secure firewall threat defense6.2.3
  • vendor Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) and Firepower Threat Defense (FTD)version unspecified

How to fix CVE-2024-20359

What to do

Three questions, each answered from this record only. Confirm the vendor advisory before you patch.

Should you patch?

CVE-2024-20359 is in the CISA known-exploited catalog, due May 1, 2024. Confirm Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) and Firepower Threat Defense (FTD) against the vendor advisory and apply that fix. The CVSS score does not change the priority.

Which versions are affected?

Compare what you have installed with cisco/adaptive security appliance software 9.8.1; cisco/adaptive security appliance software 9.8.1.5; cisco/adaptive security appliance software 9.8.1.7; cisco/adaptive security appliance software 9.8.2. Apply mitigations per vendor instructions or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.

What should an analyst verify?

CWE-94: Code Injection. EPSS 19.43%. The CISA KEV listing is the exploitation evidence. No Exploit-DB or Metasploit reference is linked. Use the source links for the original advisory.

Technology hubs

Cisco security

Code

The project this record applies to. Exploit listings stay in References.

No public source repository is identified for this product.

Timeline

Detection, updates, and resolution for this record.

  1. Apr 24, 2024 · Catalog

    Detected

    A vulnerability in a legacy capability that allowed for the preloading of VPN clients and plug-ins and that has been available in Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software and Cisco Firepower Threat Defense (FTD) Software could allow an authenticated, local attacker to execute arbitrary code with root-level privileges. Administrator-level privileges are required to exploit this vulnerabilit

  2. Apr 24, 2024 · CISA KEV

    Known exploited

    Apply mitigations per vendor instructions or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.

  3. May 1, 2024 · CISA KEV

    Remediation due

    Apply mitigations per vendor instructions or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.

  4. Aug 11, 2026 · Catalog

    Updated

    A vulnerability in a legacy capability that allowed for the preloading of VPN clients and plug-ins and that has been available in Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software and Cisco Firepower Threat Defense (FTD) Software could allow an authenticated, local attacker to execute arbitrary code with root-level privileges. Administrator-level privileges are required to exploit this vulnerabilit

Sources

  • CERT-FRGovernment advisoryCVE-2024-20359

    Le 24 avril 2024, Cisco a publié trois avis de sécurité concernant des vulnérabilités affectant les équipements de sécurité ASA et FTD. Deux d'entre eux concernent les vulnérabilités CVE-2024-20353 et CVE-2024-20359 qui sont activement exploitées dans le cadre d'attaques ciblées.

    cert.ssi.gouv.fr
  • CISA KEVConfirmed exploitationCVE-2024-20359

    Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) and Firepower Threat Defense (FTD) contain a privilege escalation vulnerability that can allow local privilege escalation from Administrator to root.

    cisa.gov
  • CVE.orgVulnerability recordCVE-2024-20359

    Official CVE identifier

    cve.org
  • FIRST EPSSExploitation probabilityCVE-2024-20359

    30-day exploitation probability 19.4%

    first.org
  • NIST NVDVulnerability recordCVE-2024-20359

    A vulnerability in a legacy capability that allowed for the preloading of VPN clients and plug-ins and that has been available in Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software and Cisco Firepower Threat Defense (FTD) Software could allow an authenticated, local attacker to exe

    nvd.nist.gov
  • VulnCheck KEVConfirmed exploitationCVE-2024-20359

    Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) and Firepower Threat Defense (FTD) contain a privilege escalation vulnerability that can allow local privilege escalation from Administrator to root.

    vulncheck.com

References

Freshness

Last verified in this catalog Oct 17, 2026. Significant claims (KEV, EPSS, CVSS, affected ranges) come from the source rows above — open the original publisher for the authoritative advisory.