CVE-2024-20481 Cisco ASA and FTD Denial-of-Service Vulnerability
Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) and Firepower Threat Defense (FTD) contain a missing release of resource after effective lifetime vulnerability that could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to cause a denial-of-service (DoS) of the RAVPN service.
From the CISA KEV catalogue version 2026.11.06, with Cybergen analysis. Updated 6 Nov 2026.
Should You Worry?
- CISA confirmed exploitation in the wild and added it to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalogue on 24 Oct 2024.
- Rated Medium severity (CVSS 5.8, scored by Vendor).
- This product type is often exposed to the internet, which is where attackers scan for it first.
- It has been in the catalogue for 743 days. Systems still unpatched now have almost certainly been scanned for it.
What It Is
A vulnerability in the Remote Access VPN (RAVPN) service of Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software and Cisco Firepower Threat Defense (FTD) Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to cause a denial of service (DoS) of the RAVPN service. This vulnerability is due to resource exhaustion. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a large number of VPN authentication requests to an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to exhaust resources, resulting in a DoS of the RAVPN service on the affected device. Depending on the impact of the attack, a reload of the device may be required to restore the RAVPN service. Services that are not related to VPN are not affected. Cisco Talos discussed these attacks in the blog post Large-scale brute-force activity targeting VPNs, SSH services with commonly used login credentials.
Affected Versions
| Product | Versions |
|---|---|
| Cisco Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software | 9.8.1 9.8.1.5 9.8.1.7 9.8.2 9.8.2.8 9.8.2.14 |
| Cisco Cisco Firepower Threat Defense Software | 6.2.3 6.2.3.1 6.2.3.2 6.2.3.3 6.2.3.4 6.2.3.5 |
From the public CVE record, as supplied by the vendor. Always confirm against the vendor advisory.
What To Do Now
- 1
Find it
Search your asset inventory and external attack surface for Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) and Firepower Threat Defense (FTD). Include cloud images, appliances and anything a supplier runs for you.
Attack Surface Management - 2
Fix it
Apply mitigations per vendor instructions or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.
Vulnerability Management - 3
Hunt for compromise
If an affected system was reachable before you patched, assume it may have been hit. Check logs, new accounts, web shells and outbound connections from the date of exposure.
Incident Response - 4
Prove it is fixed
Rescan or test the system after patching. Upgrades that fail silently and forgotten secondary instances are common.
Penetration Testing
The Compliance Clock
General guidance, not legal advice. Your obligations depend on your sector, scope and jurisdiction.
Not Sure If You Are Exposed?
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