CVE intelligence and bounded remediation

CVE-2024-20412 — Cisco Firepower Threat Defense security vulnerability

Critical CVSS 9.3

A vulnerability in Cisco Firepower Threat Defense (FTD) Software for Cisco Firepower 1000, 2100, 3100, and 4200 Series could allow an unauthenticated, local attacker to access an affected system using static credentials. This vulnerability is due to the presence of static accounts with hard-coded passwords on an affected system. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by logging in to the CLI of an affected device with these credentials. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to access the affected system and retrieve sensitive information, perform limited troubleshooting actions, modify some configuration options, or render the device unable to boot to the operating system, requiring a reimage of the device.

Severity
Critical
CVSS
9.3 (3.1)
Published
2024-10-23
CISA KEV
Not currently listed
Ecosystem
software/application
Weaknesses
CWE-259, CWE-798

Affected products

  • cisco / firepower_threat_defense / 7.1.0
  • cisco / firepower_threat_defense / 7.1.0.1
  • cisco / firepower_threat_defense / 7.1.0.2
  • cisco / firepower_threat_defense / 7.1.0.3
  • cisco / firepower_threat_defense / 7.2.0
  • cisco / firepower_threat_defense / 7.2.0.1

Showing 6 representative product identities from 23 source matches. Confirm exact affected versions with the linked vendor and NVD evidence.

Matched remediation archetype

Authentication bypass and missing authentication

This catalog composition supplies bounded fallback guidance. Explicitly reviewed curated workflows load with the complete record below.

Check exposure

  • Map every affected endpoint and protocol path, including alternate ports, legacy routes, recovery flows, service accounts, and machine-to-machine access.
  • Confirm which deployments enable the affected authentication mode and whether the interface is reachable from untrusted networks.
  • Review session, token, credential, and proxy trust configuration without attempting account takeover.

Remediate safely

  • Apply the supported fix and centralize fail-closed authentication before protected request handling.
  • Remove default or embedded credentials, rotate affected secrets and sessions, and bind authentication decisions to the intended audience and channel.
  • Add negative tests for alternate routes, malformed or absent credentials, recovery flows, and proxy-derived identity.

Authoritative sources

Complete CVE record and remediation plan

The detailed catalog view below loads this exact record, its source evidence, and the full seven-phase agentic change plan.