CVE-2023-20042

Severity: high (CVSS 8.6 v3.1)
Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
EPSS: 0.7% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
Public exploit or detection template: none known
Published: 2023-11-01 · updated 2026-08-11
Weakness: CWE-404

Description

A vulnerability in the AnyConnect SSL VPN feature of Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software and Cisco Firepower Threat Defense (FTD) Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to cause a denial of service (DoS) condition on an affected device. This vulnerability is due to an implementation error within the SSL/TLS session handling process that can prevent the release of a session handler under specific conditions. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending crafted SSL/TLS traffic to an affected device, increasing the probability of session handler leaks. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to eventually deplete the available session handler pool, preventing new sessions from being established and causing a DoS condition.

Affected products

Cisco ASA Software: 9.16.1, 9.16.1.28, 9.16.2, 9.16.2.3, 9.16.2.7, 9.16.2.11 (+24)
Cisco Firepower Threat Defense Software: 7.0.0, 7.0.0.1, 7.0.1, 7.0.1.1, 7.0.2, 7.0.2.1 (+15)

References

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