CVEs / CVE-2018-0296

CVE-2018-0296: Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Denial-of-Service Vulnerability

• Known exploited in the CISA KEV catalog since 3 Nov 2021
• high 7.5 CVSS 3.1 (NVD)
• EPSS 99.8% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 99% of CVEs (30 Oct 2026)
• Last changed at its sources 11 Aug 2026

Summary

Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) contains an improper input validation vulnerability with HTTP URLs. Exploitation could allow an attacker to cause a denial-of-service (DoS) condition or information disclosure.

Description

A vulnerability in the web interface of the Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to cause an affected device to reload unexpectedly, resulting in a denial of service (DoS) condition. It is also possible on certain software releases that the ASA will not reload, but an attacker could view sensitive system information without authentication by using directory traversal techniques. The vulnerability is due to lack of proper input validation of the HTTP URL. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a crafted HTTP request to an affected device. An exploit could allow the attacker to cause a DoS condition or unauthenticated disclosure of information. This vulnerability applies to IPv4 and IPv6 HTTP traffic. This vulnerability affects Cisco ASA Software and Cisco Firepower Threat Defense (FTD) Software that is running on the following Cisco products: 3000 Series Industrial Security Appliance (ISA), ASA 1000V Cloud Firewall, ASA 5500 Series Adaptive Security Appliances, ASA 5500-X Series Next-Generation Firewalls, ASA Services Module for Cisco Catalyst 6500 Series Switches and Cisco 7600 Series Routers, Adaptive Security Virtual Appliance (ASAv), Firepower 2100 Series Security Appliance, Firepower 4100 Series Security Appliance, Firepower 9300 ASA Security Module, FTD Virtual (FTDv). Cisco Bug IDs: CSCvi16029.

Affected and fixed versions

Exploitation

Severity

References

• CVE-2018-0296 on NVD
• CVE-2018-0296 in the CISA KEV catalog
• http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/154017/Cisco-Adaptive-Security-Appliance-Path-Traversal.html Exploit, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
• http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/104612 Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
• http://www.securitytracker.com/id/1041076 Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
• https://ics-cert.us-cert.gov/advisories/ICSA-18-184-01 Third Party Advisory, US Government Resource
• https://tools.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-20180606-asaftd Vendor Advisory
• https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/44956/ Exploit, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
• https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2018-0296 US Government Resource