VulnerabilityPublished 4 Mar 2026

CVE-2026-20008: Cisco Secure Firewall Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software · OS Command Injection

Affects Cisco Secure Firewall Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) SoftwareSource CVE Database V5

Compare

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 6.0 Medium.

Data as of 30 Oct 2026, 06:59 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

6.0Medium

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

EPSS: 0.1% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 3% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.

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

Attack Vector: Local
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: High
User Interaction: None
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: High
Integrity: High
Availability: None

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Local: The vulnerable component is not bound to the network stack and the attacker’s path is via read/write/execute capabilities. Either: the attacker exploits the vulnerability by accessing the target system locally (e.g., keyboard, console), or remotely (e.g., SSH); or the attacker relies on User Interaction by another person to perform actions required to exploit the vulnerability (e.g., tricking a legitimate user into opening a malicious document).
Attack Complexity: Low: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
Privileges Required: High: The attacker is authorized with (i.e., requires) privileges that provide significant (e.g., administrative) control over the vulnerable component that could affect component-wide settings and files.
User Interaction: None: The vulnerable system can be exploited without any interaction from any user.
Scope: Unchanged: An exploited vulnerability can only affect resources managed by the same security authority. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are either the same, or both are managed by the same security authority.
Confidentiality: High: There is total loss of confidentiality, resulting in all resources within the impacted component being divulged to the attacker. Alternatively, access to only some restricted information is obtained, but the disclosed information presents a direct, serious impact.
Integrity: High: There is a total loss of integrity, or a complete loss of protection. For example, the attacker is able to modify any/all files protected by the impacted component. Alternatively, only some files can be modified, but malicious modification would present a direct, serious consequence to the impacted component.
Availability: None: There is no impact to availability within the impacted component.

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 4 Mar 2026
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponized: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 29 Oct 2026.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponized: A Metasploit exploit module or Exploit-DB entry exists (Metasploit scanner modules do not count), or CISA SSVC or the CVSS exploit maturity reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
CiscoCisco Secure Firewall Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software	Affected 9.12.1 – 9.23.1.3 147 affected builds	Fixed in–
CiscoCisco Secure Firewall Threat Defense (FTD) Software	Affected 6.4.0 – 7.7.10.1 75 affected builds	Fixed in–

AI-suggested

To mitigate CVE-2026-20008, organizations should: 1) Immediately apply Cisco's security patches or updates addressing this vulnerability once available, as patching is the most effective mitigation. 2) Restrict administrative access to Cisco ASA and FTD devices to trusted personnel only, using strong authentication methods such as multi-factor authentication (MFA). 3) Limit local access to firewall management interfaces, preferably through secure jump hosts or VPNs with strict access controls. 4) Monitor administrative command usage and audit logs for suspicious or anomalous CLI commands that could indicate exploitation attempts. 5) Employ network segmentation to isolate management interfaces from general user networks to reduce exposure. 6) Regularly review and update firewall device configurations and credentials to minimize risk from compromised accounts. 7) Consider implementing runtime application self-protection or host-based intrusion detection on firewall management hosts if feasible. These steps go beyond generic advice by focusing on access control hardening, monitoring, and operational best practices specific to the affected Cisco products.

Description

A vulnerability in a small subset of CLI commands that are used on Cisco Secure Firewall Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software and Cisco Secure Firewall Threat Defense (FTD) Software could allow an authenticated, local attacker to craft Lua code that could be used on the underlying operating system as root. This vulnerability exists because user-provided input is not properly sanitized. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by crafting valid Lua code and submitting it as a malicious parameter for a CLI command. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to inject Lua code, which could lead to arbitrary code execution as the root user. To exploit this vulnerability, an attacker must have valid Administrator credentials.

Impact

The impact of CVE-2026-20008 is significant for organizations relying on Cisco Secure Firewall ASA and FTD devices for network security. Successful exploitation grants root-level code execution on the firewall, compromising the device's confidentiality and integrity. Attackers could manipulate firewall configurations, disable security controls, intercept or redirect network traffic, and establish persistent backdoors. This could lead to broader network compromise, data breaches, and disruption of critical security infrastructure. Since the vulnerability requires administrator credentials and local access, the risk is primarily from insider threats or attackers who have already gained privileged access. However, given the critical role of Cisco ASA and FTD devices in enterprise and service provider networks worldwide, the potential for severe operational and security impacts is high if exploited. The absence of known exploits in the wild reduces immediate risk but does not eliminate the threat, especially as attackers may develop exploits over time.

References

sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-asaftd-luainject-VescqgmS (opens in a new tab)

Community reviews

Loading reviews…

Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 11 Mar 2026, 19:51 UTC

Technical details

References

Community reviews

Related threats