CVE-2024-20359: Cisco ASA and FTD Privilege Escalation Vulnerability
- Is it exploited?
Yes. CISA added it to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on 24 Apr 2024, the same day the CVE record was published.
- How likely is exploitation in the next 30 days?
- 18.8%
EPSS score, percentile 97.3 of all scored records
- How severe?
- 6.0 Medium
CVSS v3.1 base score, given by the CNA
- What should I do?
CISA deadline 1 May 2024. Apply mitigations per vendor instructions or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.
The CVE record links no vendor advisory, patch or mitigation.
- Which versions are affected?
Affected
- 9.8.1
- 9.8.1.5
- 9.8.1.7
- 9.8.2
- 9.8.2.8
- 9.8.2.14
and 18 more in the table below
Source: CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog, 2026.10.28, as of 28 Oct 2026; FIRST Exploit Prediction Scoring System (EPSS), v2026.06.15, as of 28 Oct 2026; CVE List V5 (CVE Program), cve_2026-10-28_0000Z, as of 28 Oct 2026. About the data.
What to do
Required action, set by CISA
Apply mitigations per vendor instructions or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.
CISA due date for this action: 1 May 2024.
Advisories and patches
The CVE record links no vendor advisory, patch or mitigation.
Linked from CISA's catalog entry
- https://sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-asaftd-persist-rce-FLsNXF4h
- https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-20359
Affected products and versions
As listed in the CVE record.
| Status | Versions |
|---|---|
| Affected | 9.8.1 |
| Affected | 9.8.1.5 |
| Affected | 9.8.1.7 |
| Affected | 9.8.2 |
| Affected | 9.8.2.8 |
| Affected | 9.8.2.14 |
| Affected | 9.8.2.15 |
| Affected | 9.8.2.17 |
| Affected | 9.8.2.20 |
| Affected | 9.8.2.24 |
| Affected | 9.8.2.26 |
| Affected | 9.8.2.28 |
And 175 more version entries in the CVE record.
| Status | Versions |
|---|---|
| Affected | 6.2.3 |
| Affected | 6.2.3.1 |
| Affected | 6.2.3.2 |
| Affected | 6.2.3.3 |
| Affected | 6.2.3.4 |
| Affected | 6.2.3.5 |
| Affected | 6.2.3.6 |
| Affected | 6.2.3.7 |
| Affected | 6.2.3.8 |
| Affected | 6.2.3.10 |
| Affected | 6.2.3.11 |
| Affected | 6.2.3.9 |
And 68 more version entries in the CVE record.
Source: CVE List V5 (CVE Program), cve_2026-10-28_0000Z, as of 28 Oct 2026. About the data.
About this vulnerability
Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) and Firepower Threat Defense (FTD) contain a privilege escalation vulnerability that can allow local privilege escalation from Administrator to root.
Summary: CISA's KEV catalog, as of 28 Oct 2026.
- CISA added CVE-2024-20359 to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog on 24 Apr 2024.
- CISA's ransomware flag for this entry is "Unknown": no evidence of ransomware use in the catalog, which is not proof of none.
- The due date CISA sets for the required action is 1 May 2024.
- The CVE record was published on 24 Apr 2024, the same day it was added to KEV.
- The CVE record carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 6.0 (Medium), given by its CNA.
- FIRST's EPSS model puts the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days at 18.8% (percentile 97.3), as of 28 Oct 2026.
- CISA's SSVC assessment in the CVE record: exploitation active, automatable no, technical impact partial.
Source: CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog, 2026.10.28, as of 28 Oct 2026; CVE List V5 (CVE Program), cve_2026-10-28_0000Z, as of 28 Oct 2026; FIRST Exploit Prediction Scoring System (EPSS), v2026.06.15, as of 28 Oct 2026. About the data.
Description
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.
Source: CVE List V5 (CVE Program), cve_2026-10-28_0000Z, as of 28 Oct 2026. About the data.
Weakness
CWE and CAPEC are maintained by MITRE; the entries are those named in the CVE record and the KEV entry.
Timeline
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 24 Apr 2024 | CVE record published |
| 24 Apr 2024 | Added to CISA KEV |
| 1 May 2024 | CISA due date for the required action |
| 21 Oct 2025 | CVE record last updated |
References
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