Cisco ASA and FTD Privilege Escalation Vulnerability
Cisco — Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software
A vulnerability in a legacy capability that allowed for the preloading of VPN clients and plug-ins and that has been available in Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software and Cisco Firepower Threat Defense (FTD) Software could allow an authenticated, local attacker to execute arbitrary code with root-level privileges. Administrator-level privileges are required to exploit this vulnerability. This vulnerability is due to improper validation of a file when it is read from system flash memory. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by copying a crafted file to the disk0: file system of an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary code on the affected device after the next reload of the device, which could alter system behavior. Because the injected code could persist across device reboots, Cisco has raised the Security Impact Rating (SIR) of this advisory from Medium to High.
6.0
19.4%
Vector breakdown
- Attack vector
- Local
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Privileges required
- High
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N
- Published
- Apr 24, 2024
- Modified
- Oct 21, 2025
- Added to KEV
- Apr 24, 2024
- Federal patch due
- May 1, 2024
CISA required action
Apply mitigations per vendor instructions or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.
Weakness classification
Proof-of-concept & exploitation references
Weaponization
Public repositories whose name or description references CVE-2024-20359, found via a live GitHub search at request time. These are community-sourced signals, not a verified working exploit - cross-check each one before relying on it, and treat higher star counts and recent activity as (weak) corroboration, not proof.
No public GitHub repositories referencing CVE-2024-20359 were found at last check. Absence here is not proof no exploit exists - see the references below for vendor advisories and write-ups.
References
Frequently asked questions
What is CVE-2024-20359?
A vulnerability in a legacy capability that allowed for the preloading of VPN clients and plug-ins and that has been available in Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software and Cisco Firepower Threat Defense (FTD) Software could allow an authenticated, local attacker to execute arbitrary code with root-level privileges. Administrator-level privileges are required to exploit this vulnerability. This vulnerability is due to improper validation of a file when it is read from system flash memory. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by copying a crafted file to the disk0: file system of an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary code on the affected device after the next reload of the device, which could alter system behavior. Because the injected code could persist across device reboots, Cisco has raised the Security Impact Rating (SIR) of this advisory from Medium to High.
How severe is CVE-2024-20359?
CVE-2024-20359 has a CVSS base score of 6.0 out of 10 (CVSS 3.1).
Is CVE-2024-20359 actively exploited in the wild?
Yes. CVE-2024-20359 is listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog, added Apr 24, 2024, meaning CISA has confirmed evidence of active exploitation.
What is the EPSS score for CVE-2024-20359?
19.4% - meaning FIRST.org's EPSS model estimates a 19.4% probability this vulnerability will be exploited in the wild within 30 days (97% percentile among all scored CVEs).
What type of vulnerability is CVE-2024-20359?
CVE-2024-20359 is classified under CWE-94 (Improper Control of Generation of Code ('Code Injection')).
Cross-checked against
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