CVE-2020-3458: Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance Software and Firepower Threat Defense Software for Firepower 1000/2100 Series Appliances Secure Boot Bypass Vulnerabilities

Severity: medium (CVSS 6.7 v3.1)
Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
EPSS: 0.3% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
Public exploit or detection template: none known
Published: 2020-10-21 · updated 2026-08-11
Weakness: CWE-693

Description

Multiple vulnerabilities in the secure boot process of Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software and Firepower Threat Defense (FTD) Software for the Firepower 1000 Series and Firepower 2100 Series Appliances could allow an authenticated, local attacker to bypass the secure boot mechanism. The vulnerabilities are due to insufficient protections of the secure boot process. An attacker could exploit these vulnerabilities by injecting code into specific files that are then referenced during the device boot process. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to break the chain of trust and inject code into the boot process of the device, which would be executed at each boot and maintain persistence across reboots.

Affected products

Cisco ASA Software: from 9.8.0 before 9.8.4.26; from 9.9.0 before 9.9.2.80; from 9.10.0 before 9.10.1.43; from 9.12.0 before 9.12.4.3; from 9.13.0 before 9.13.1.13; from 9.14.0 before 9.14.1.15 — fixed in 9.10.1.43, 9.12.4.3, 9.13.1.13, 9.14.1.15, 9.8.4.26, 9.9.2.80
Cisco Firepower Threat Defense Software: through 6.2.2; from 6.3.0 before 6.3.0.6; from 6.4.0 before 6.4.0.10; from 6.5.0 before 6.5.0.5; 6.6.0 — fixed in 6.3.0.6, 6.4.0.10, 6.5.0.5

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: Cisco ASA Software 9.10.1.43, 9.12.4.3, 9.13.1.13, 9.14.1.15; Cisco Firepower Threat Defense Software 6.3.0.6, 6.4.0.10, 6.5.0.5. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

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