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Full vulnerability report · 2022
CVE-2022-20737High confidence

Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance Software Clientless SSL VPN Heap Overflow Vulnerability

Cisco · Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software

8.5HighCVSS 3.1
Recommended action
Within 7 days

High technical severity; prioritise exposed affected systems while verifying vendor guidance.

Fix not verified
Optional official sources

National CERT insights
?CERT means Computer Emergency Response Team; CSIRT is the closely related term Computer Security Incident Response Team.

Select the national-authority views to include. The exact source language is shown on each matched advisory. Your choice is remembered on this device and encoded in the shareable URL.

Official European source

ENISA European Vulnerability Database

Official EUVD identifiers, advisory evidence and known-exploited context. Missing fields are not treated as evidence of low risk.

1 current
ENISA EUVD identifier

EUVD-2022-25987

No EUVD known-exploited evidence

ENISA has published the identifier mapping but no EUVD description has been stored yet.

EUVD state
Present in the current official mapping
Known exploitation
Not present in the current ENISA EUVD known-exploited dataset. This is not proof of no exploitation.
ENISA score
Not supplied in the stored EUVD record
Advisory evidence
No linked advisory details stored yet
Recommended actionWithin 7 days

High technical severity; prioritise exposed affected systems while verifying vendor guidance.

Fix not verified
01

What, why and how

A vulnerability in the handler for HTTP authentication for resources accessed through the Clientless SSL VPN portal of Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to cause a denial of service (DoS) condition on an affected device or to obtain portions of process memory from an affected device. This vulnerability is due to insufficient bounds checking when parsing specific HTTP authentication messages. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending malicious traffic to an affected device acting as a VPN Gateway. To send this malicious traffic, an attacker would need to control a web server that can be accessed through the Clientless SSL VPN portal. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause the device to reload, resulting in a DoS condition, or to retrieve bytes from the device process memory that may contain sensitive information.

What

A vulnerability in the handler for HTTP authentication for resources accessed through the Clientless SSL VPN portal of Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to cause a denial of service (DoS) condition on an affected device or to obtain portions of process memory from an affected device. This vulnerability is due to insufficient bounds checking when parsing specific HTTP authentication messages. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending malicious traffic to an affected device acting as a VPN Gateway. To send this malicious traffic, an attacker would need to control a web server that can be accessed through the Clientless SSL VPN portal. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause the device to reload, resulting in a DoS condition, or to retrieve bytes from the device process memory that may contain sensitive information.

Why

A heap overflow condition is a buffer overflow, where the buffer that can be overwritten is allocated in the heap portion of memory, generally meaning that the buffer was allocated using a routine such as malloc().

How

An attacker operating through a network path may attempt exploitation with low privileges. If successful, the issue may obtain information outside the intended access boundary.

What

A vulnerability in the handler for HTTP authentication for resources accessed through the Clientless SSL VPN portal of Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to cause a denial of service (DoS) condition on an affected device or to obtain portions of process memory from an affected device. This vulnerability is due to insufficient bounds checking when parsing specific HTTP authentication messages. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending malicious traffic to an affected device acting as a VPN Gateway. To send this malicious traffic, an attacker would need to control a web server that can be accessed through the Clientless SSL VPN portal. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause the device to reload, resulting in a DoS condition, or to retrieve bytes from the device process memory that may contain sensitive information.

Why

A heap overflow condition is a buffer overflow, where the buffer that can be overwritten is allocated in the heap portion of memory, generally meaning that the buffer was allocated using a routine such as malloc().

How

An attacker operating through a network path may attempt exploitation with low privileges. If successful, the issue may obtain information outside the intended access boundary.

02

Exploit reality and attack path

CVSS severity, EPSS forecast probability, public exploit material and CISA-confirmed exploitation are separate signals.

Observed exploitation
?Confirmed exploitation and public exploit material are separate signals. Attacks can occur without public proof-of-concept or exploit code.
No confirmed evidence

No CISA KEV match was present at the last successful refresh. This means no confirmation from that source, not proof of no exploitation.

Public PoC / exploit material
?Confirmed exploitation and public exploit material are separate signals. Attacks can occur without public proof-of-concept or exploit code.
None recorded

No exploit-tagged reference or CISA SSVC proof-of-concept state is currently recorded. Research may still exist outside the structured feeds.

Likely attack path
a network path → Heap-based Buffer Overflow → obtain information outside the intended access boundary
Attack surface
Network
Privileges required
Low: a basic authenticated account is required
User interaction
None
Attack complexity
Low: no specialised conditions are recorded
Security boundary
Changed: exploitation can affect a different security authority
Weakness
?CWE means Common Weakness Enumeration: a standard category for the underlying weakness.
CWE-122

CWE-122: Heap-based Buffer Overflow. A heap overflow condition is a buffer overflow, where the buffer that can be overwritten is allocated in the heap portion of memory, generally meaning that the buffer was allocated using a routine such as malloc().

CVSS vector
?CVSS means Common Vulnerability Scoring System. The vector records the metric values used to calculate technical severity.
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:N/A:H

Common Vulnerability Scoring System 3.1: the compact vector below is decoded into plain language.

AVNetworkAttack vector: The vulnerable component can be reached over a network.ACLowAttack complexity: No specialised conditions are required beyond attacker-controlled input.PRLowPrivileges required: The attacker needs basic user-level privileges.UINoneUser interaction: No action by another user is required.SChangedScope: The attack can affect a component governed by a different security authority.CLowConfidentiality impact: A successful attack can cause a limited loss.INoneIntegrity impact: No direct loss is represented by this metric.AHighAvailability impact: A successful attack can cause a major loss.
Post-exploitation / living off the land
No specific living-off-the-land technique is confirmed in the structured sources. Monitor normal administration tools for activity inconsistent with the affected service's baseline.
NetworkDenial of serviceCWE-122
A

Official authority intelligence

Only matched European and national findings are included. Language selectors and unavailable sources are omitted.

CERT-FR · French · CERTFR-2022-AVI-399Multiples vulnérabilités dans les produits Cisco

De multiples vulnérabilités ont été découvertes dans les produits Cisco. Certaines d'entre elles permettent à un attaquant de provoquer un déni de service à distance, un contournement de la politique de sécurité et une atteinte à l'intégrité des données.

Official advisory
03

Patch and workaround

Operational remediation based on structured source evidence.

Status
?Patch availability is based on structured fixed-version fields and authoritative update references. If no fix is verified, check the vendor advisory before making a change.
Fix not verified
Affected
n/a
Fixed
No fixed version is explicitly recorded in the structured CVE data.
Action
No verified patch reference is present in the current structured sources. Check the vendor advisory before making a change.
Workaround
No verified workaround is recorded. If business-safe, reduce exposure to the affected interface and allow only trusted sources until authoritative guidance is available.
04

Evidence and provenance

Published 3 May 2022 · Last source change 6 Nov 2024, 16:19 UTC · CWE-122 · Heap-based Buffer Overflow

CVE recordCVE.org · 5.1
CVSS sourceCNA
EPSS source
?The date BlackTree first stored a score for this CVE from the daily FIRST EPSS feed.
FIRST · tracked since 2026-08-14
European sourceENISA EUVD · EUVD-2022-25987
Product sourceCNA
Remediation sourceCVE/CNA references
CWE sourceCNA
NVD statusNVD modified after enrichment

Core structured fields are present and their contributing authorities are shown above.

Material change intelligence

What changed after publication

View recent updates →

No material field changes have been recorded since change tracking began. Routine source refreshes and cosmetic edits are intentionally excluded.

Material fields only · duplicate refreshes suppressed · history retained for the configured operational retention period
Technical terms and abbreviations used in this report
CVE
Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures: the public identifier for one disclosed vulnerability.
CVSS
Common Vulnerability Scoring System: a technical severity framework; it is not patching priority by itself.
EPSS
Exploit Prediction Scoring System: FIRST's estimate of the probability that exploitation activity will be observed in the next 30 days; it is a forecast, not confirmation.
CWE
Common Weakness Enumeration: the standard category describing the underlying software or hardware weakness.
CNA
CVE Numbering Authority: an organisation authorised to assign and publish CVE records.
CISA ADP
Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Authorized Data Publisher: structured enrichment added to a CVE record.
NVD
National Vulnerability Database: NIST's enrichment service for CVE records.
CERT / CSIRT
A computer security incident response team that publishes warnings or coordinates incident response.
PoC
Proof of concept: public material that demonstrates or helps reproduce exploitation.
CSAF
Common Security Advisory Framework: a machine-readable format for security advisories.
LoTL
Living off the land: abuse of legitimate tools or system functions during an attack.
Free version - for non-commercial use only.CVE-2022-20737 · cve.blacktree.nl