A vulnerability in the TLS 1.3 implementation for a specific cipher for Cisco Secure Firewall Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software and Cisco Secure Firewall Threat Defense (FTD) Software for Cisco Firepower 3100 and 4200 Series devices could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to consume resources that are associated with incoming TLS 1.3 connections, which eventually could cause the device to stop accepting any new SSL/TLS or VPN requests.
This vulnerability is due to the implementation of the TLS 1.3 Cipher TLS_CHACHA20_POLY1305_SHA256. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a large number of TLS 1.3 connections with the specific TLS 1.3 Cipher TLS_CHACHA20_POLY1305_SHA256. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause a denial of service (DoS) condition where no new incoming encrypted connections are accepted. The device must be reloaded to clear this condition. Note: These incoming TLS 1.3 connections include both data traffic and user-management traffic. After the device is in the vulnerable state, no new encrypted connections can be accepted.
| Software | From | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
| cisco / firepower_threat_defense | 7.4.0 | 7.4.0.x |
| cisco / firepower_threat_defense | 7.4.1 | 7.4.1.x |
| cisco / firepower_threat_defense | 7.4.1.1 | 7.4.1.1.x |
| cisco / firepower_threat_defense | 7.4.2 | 7.4.2.x |
| cisco / firepower_threat_defense | 7.4.2.1 | 7.4.2.1.x |
| cisco / firepower_threat_defense | 7.6.0 | 7.6.0.x |
| cisco / adaptive_security_appliance_software | 9.20.1 | 9.20.1.x |
| cisco / adaptive_security_appliance_software | 9.20.1.5 | 9.20.1.5.x |
| cisco / adaptive_security_appliance_software | 9.20.2 | 9.20.2.x |
| cisco / adaptive_security_appliance_software | 9.20.2.10 | 9.20.2.10.x |
| cisco / adaptive_security_appliance_software | 9.20.2.21 | 9.20.2.21.x |
| cisco / adaptive_security_appliance_software | 9.20.2.22 | 9.20.2.22.x |
| cisco / adaptive_security_appliance_software | 9.20.3 | 9.20.3.x |
| cisco / adaptive_security_appliance_software | 9.20.3.4 | 9.20.3.4.x |
| cisco / adaptive_security_appliance_software | 9.20.3.7 | 9.20.3.7.x |
| cisco / adaptive_security_appliance_software | 9.22.1.1 | 9.22.1.1.x |
A security vulnerability is a weakness in software, hardware, or configuration that can be exploited to compromise confidentiality, integrity, or availability. Many vulnerabilities are tracked as CVEs (Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures), which provide a standardized identifier so teams can coordinate patching, mitigation, and risk assessment across tools and vendors.
CVSS (Common Vulnerability Scoring System) estimates technical severity, but it doesn't automatically equal business risk. Prioritize using context like internet exposure, affected asset criticality, known exploitation (proof-of-concept or in-the-wild), and whether compensating controls exist. A "Medium" CVSS on an exposed, production system can be more urgent than a "Critical" on an isolated, non-production host.
A vulnerability is the underlying weakness. An exploit is the method or code used to take advantage of it. A zero-day is a vulnerability that is unknown to the vendor or has no publicly available fix when attackers begin using it. In practice, risk increases sharply when exploitation becomes reliable or widespread.
Recurring findings usually come from incomplete Asset Discovery, inconsistent patch management, inherited images, and configuration drift. In modern environments, you also need to watch the software supply chain: dependencies, containers, build pipelines, and third-party services can reintroduce the same weakness even after you patch a single host. Unknown or unmanaged assets (often called Shadow IT) are a common reason the same issues resurface.
Use a simple, repeatable triage model: focus first on externally exposed assets, high-value systems (identity, VPN, email, production), vulnerabilities with known exploits, and issues that enable remote code execution or privilege escalation. Then enforce patch SLAs and track progress using consistent metrics so remediation is steady, not reactive.
SynScan combines attack surface monitoring and continuous security auditing to keep your inventory current, flag high-impact vulnerabilities early, and help you turn raw findings into a practical remediation plan.