CVE intelligence and bounded remediation

CVE-2026-20049 — Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance Software security vulnerability

High CVSS 7.7

A vulnerability in the processing of Galois/Counter Mode (GCM)-encrypted Internet Key Exchange version 2 (IKEv2) IPsec traffic of Cisco Secure Firewall Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software and Cisco Secure Firewall Threat Defense (FTD) Software could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to cause a denial of service (DoS) condition on an affected device. This vulnerability is due to the allocation of an insufficiently sized block of memory. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending crafted GCM-encrypted IPsec traffic to an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause an unexpected reload of the device, resulting in a DoS condition. To exploit this vulnerability, the attacker must have valid credentials to establish a VPN connection with the affected device.

Severity
High
CVSS
7.7 (3.1)
Published
2026-03-04
CISA KEV
Not currently listed
Ecosystem
software/application
Weaknesses
CWE-131

Affected products

  • cisco / adaptive_security_appliance_software
  • cisco / firepower_threat_defense_software

Showing 2 representative product identities from 8 source matches. Confirm exact affected versions with the linked vendor and NVD evidence.

Matched remediation archetype

Buffer bounds, memory safety, and memory corruption

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

Check exposure

  • Identify affected native-code versions, build flags, architectures, parsers, codecs, drivers, and input paths in all shipped artifacts.
  • Determine whether untrusted data reaches the affected routine and the process privilege, sandbox, and network exposure.
  • Confirm statically linked, vendored, firmware, and platform-provided copies, not only package-manager records.

Remediate safely

  • Apply the maintained upstream correction or replace the affected component, then rebuild every dependent artifact from clean inputs.
  • Adopt bounds-checked interfaces, validated sizes and integer conversions, clear ownership, and memory-safe components where practical.
  • Enable supported compiler and runtime hardening and add sanitized tests and fuzz regression seeds derived from non-weaponized fixtures.

Authoritative sources

Complete CVE record and remediation plan

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