VulnerabilityPublished 4 Mar 2026

CVE-2026-20062: Cisco Secure Firewall Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software · Incorrect Execution-Assigned Permissions

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

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Not known to be exploited · CVSS 7.2 High.

Data as of 30 Oct 2026, 11:52 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

7.2High

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

EPSS: 0.1% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 2% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.

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

Attack Vector: Local
Attack Complexity: High
Privileges Required: High
User Interaction: None
Scope: Changed
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: High: A successful attack depends on conditions beyond the attacker's control. That is, a successful attack cannot be accomplished at will, but requires the attacker to invest in some measurable amount of effort in preparation or execution against the vulnerable component before a successful attack can be expected. For example, a successful attack may require an attacker to: gather knowledge about the environment in which the vulnerable target/component exists; prepare the target environment to improve exploit reliability; or inject themselves into the logical network path between the target and the resource requested by the victim in order to read and/or modify network communications (e.g., a man in the middle attack).
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: Changed: An exploited vulnerability can affect resources beyond the security scope managed by the security authority of the vulnerable component. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are different and managed by different security authorities.
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 30 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 9.17.1 – 9.23.1.3 73 affected builds	Fixed in–

AI-suggested

Organizations should immediately verify if their Cisco ASA devices are running affected software versions in multiple context mode and have the CiscoSSH stack enabled. The primary mitigation is to apply Cisco's security patches or software updates that address this vulnerability once available. Until patches are deployed, administrators should restrict SCP access and usage to trusted personnel only and consider disabling SCP operations in non-admin contexts if feasible. Implement strict administrative credential management and monitoring to prevent unauthorized access to any context. Employ network segmentation and access controls to limit local access to ASA devices. Audit and monitor SCP command usage and file access logs for suspicious activity. Educate administrators about the risks of cross-context file operations and enforce the principle of least privilege for context administrators. Consider using alternative secure file transfer methods that enforce proper context isolation. Regularly review and update firewall configurations to detect unauthorized changes potentially resulting from exploitation.

Description

A vulnerability in the CLI of Cisco Secure Firewall Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software in multiple context mode could allow an authenticated, local attacker with administrative privileges in one context to copy files to or from another context, including configuration files. This vulnerability is due to improper access controls for Secure Copy Protocol (SCP) operations when the CiscoSSH stack is enabled. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by authenticating to a non-admin context of the device and issuing crafted SCP copy commands in that non-admin context. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to read, create, or overwrite sensitive files that belong to another context, including the admin and system contexts. The attacker cannot directly impact the availability of services pertaining to other contexts. To exploit this vulnerability, the attacker must have valid administrative credentials for a non-admin context. Note: An attacker cannot list or enumerate files from another context and would need to know the exact file path, which increases the complexity of a successful attack.

Impact

The vulnerability poses a significant risk to organizations deploying Cisco ASA in multiple context mode, especially those relying on strict separation between contexts for security. An attacker with administrative access in one context can compromise the confidentiality and integrity of other contexts by reading or modifying sensitive configuration files or system files. This could lead to unauthorized disclosure of sensitive information, unauthorized configuration changes, or persistence mechanisms implanted in other contexts. Although availability is not directly impacted, the integrity compromise could indirectly affect firewall policies or system behavior, potentially weakening overall network security. Given the widespread use of Cisco ASA devices in enterprise and service provider networks worldwide, exploitation could facilitate lateral movement, privilege escalation, or data exfiltration within segmented environments. The requirement for local authenticated access with administrative privileges in a non-admin context limits the attack surface but does not eliminate risk, especially in environments where administrative credentials are shared or compromised. The inability to enumerate files increases attack complexity but does not prevent targeted attacks if file paths are known or guessed. The vulnerability could be leveraged in insider threat scenarios or post-compromise stages of an attack chain.

References

sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-asa-scpcxt-filecpy-rgeP73nE (opens in a new tab)

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 11 Mar 2026, 19:58 UTC

Technical details

References

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