Skip to main content

CVE-2023-20269

5.0
MEDIUMCVSS v3.1 Base Score
0.88%
LOW RiskEPSS (76th percentile)
KEV

A vulnerability in the remote access VPN feature of Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software and Cisco Firepower Threat Defense (FTD) Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to conduct a brute force attack in an attempt to identify valid username and password combinations or an authenticated, remote attacker to establish a clientless SSL VPN session with an unauthorized user. This vulnerability is due to improper separation of authentication, authorization, and accounting (AAA) between the remote access VPN feature and the HTTPS management and site-to-site VPN features. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by specifying a default connection profile/tunnel group while conducting a brute force attack or while establishing a clientless SSL VPN session using valid credentials. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to achieve one or both of the following: Identify valid credentials that could then be used to establish an unauthorized remote access VPN session. Establish a clientless SSL VPN session (only when running Cisco ASA Software Release 9.16 or earlier). Notes: Establishing a client-based remote access VPN tunnel is not possible as these default connection profiles/tunnel groups do not and cannot have an IP address pool configured. This vulnerability does not allow an attacker to bypass authentication. To successfully establish a remote access VPN session, valid credentials are required, including a valid second factor if multi-factor authentication (MFA) is configured. Cisco will release software updates that address this vulnerability. There are workarounds that address this vulnerability.

Published: 9/6/2023
Modified: 10/28/2025
Back to CVE Lookup

ACTIVELY EXPLOITED IN THE WILD

This vulnerability is listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog.

Vulnerability Name:

Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance and Firepower Threat Defense Unauthorized Access Vulnerability

Vendor / Product:

Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance and Firepower Threat Defense

Required Action:

Apply mitigations per vendor instructions for group-lock and vpn-simultaneous-logins or discontinue use of the product for unsupported devices.

Due Date: 10/4/2023(OVERDUE)
Ransomware Campaign Use
Added to KEV:

9/13/2023

Notes:

https://sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-asaftd-ravpn-auth-8LyfCkeC; https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-20269

Vulnerability Summary

CVSS v3 Score

5MEDIUM

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:L/A:N

EPSS Score (Exploitation Probability)

0.88%LOW Exploitation Risk
76th percentile

This vulnerability has a 0.88% probability of being exploited in the next 30 days, ranking higher than 76% of all scored CVEs.

CWE Classification

Related Vulnerabilities

Same Weakness Type(CWE-288)

CVE-2026-1603HIGH 8.6

An authentication bypass in Ivanti Endpoint Manager before version 2024 SU5 allows a remote unauthenticated attacker to leak specific stored credential data.

2/10/2026
CVE-2025-21589CRITICAL 9.8

An Authentication Bypass Using an Alternate Path or Channel vulnerability in Juniper Networks Session Smart Router may allows a network-based attacker to bypass authentication and take administrative control of the device. This issue affects Session Smart Router:  * from 5.6.7 before 5.6.17,  * from 6.0 before 6.0.8 (affected from 6.0.8), * from 6.1 before 6.1.12-lts,  * from 6.2 before 6.2.8-lts,  * from 6.3 before 6.3.3-r2;  This issue affects Session Smart Conductor:  * from 5.6.7 before 5.6.17,  * from 6.0 before 6.0.8 (affected from 6.0.8), * from 6.1 before 6.1.12-lts,  * from 6.2 before 6.2.8-lts,  * from 6.3 before 6.3.3-r2;  This issue affects WAN Assurance Managed Routers:  * from 5.6.7 before 5.6.17,  * from 6.0 before 6.0.8 (affected from 6.0.8), * from 6.1 before 6.1.12-lts,  * from 6.2 before 6.2.8-lts,  * from 6.3 before 6.3.3-r2.

1/27/2026
CVE-2026-24858CRITICAL 9.8

An Authentication Bypass Using an Alternate Path or Channel vulnerability [CWE-288] vulnerability in Fortinet FortiAnalyzer 7.6.0 through 7.6.5, FortiAnalyzer 7.4.0 through 7.4.9, FortiAnalyzer 7.2.0 through 7.2.11, FortiAnalyzer 7.0.0 through 7.0.15, FortiManager 7.6.0 through 7.6.5, FortiManager 7.4.0 through 7.4.9, FortiManager 7.2.0 through 7.2.11, FortiManager 7.0.0 through 7.0.15, FortiOS 7.6.0 through 7.6.5, FortiOS 7.4.0 through 7.4.10, FortiOS 7.2.0 through 7.2.12, FortiOS 7.0.0 through 7.0.18, FortiProxy 7.6.0 through 7.6.4, FortiProxy 7.4.0 through 7.4.12, FortiProxy 7.2.0 through 7.2.15, FortiProxy 7.0.0 through 7.0.22, FortiWeb 8.0.0 through 8.0.3, FortiWeb 7.6.0 through 7.6.6, FortiWeb 7.4.0 through 7.4.11 may allow an attacker with a FortiCloud account and a registered device to log into other devices registered to other accounts, if FortiCloud SSO authentication is enabled on those devices.

1/27/2026
CVE-2026-23760CRITICAL 9.8

SmarterTools SmarterMail versions prior to build 9511 contain an authentication bypass vulnerability in the password reset API. The force-reset-password endpoint permits anonymous requests and fails to verify the existing password or a reset token when resetting system administrator accounts. An unauthenticated attacker can supply a target administrator username and a new password to reset the account, resulting in full administrative compromise of the SmarterMail instance. NOTE: SmarterMail system administrator privileges grant the ability to execute operating system commands via built-in management functionality, effectively providing administrative (SYSTEM or root) access on the underlying host.

1/22/2026
CVE-2025-10484CRITICAL 9.8

The Registration & Login with Mobile Phone Number for WooCommerce plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Authentication Bypass in all versions up to, and including, 1.3.1. This is due to the plugin not properly verifying a users identity prior to authenticating them via the fma_lwp_set_session_php_fun() function. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to authenticate as any user on the site, including administrators, without a valid password.

1/17/2026

Similar SeverityMEDIUM

CVE-2026-34926MEDIUM 6.7

A directory traversal vulnerability in the Apex One (on-premise) server could allow a pre-authenticated local attacker to modify a key table on the server to inject malicious code to deploy to agents on affected installations. This vulnerability is only exploitable on the on-premise version of Apex One and a potential attacker must have access to the Apex One Server and already obtained administrative credentials to the server via some other method to exploit this vulnerability.

5/21/2026
CVE-2026-45498MEDIUM 4

Microsoft Defender Denial of Service Vulnerability

5/20/2026
CVE-2026-40243MEDIUM 4.8

Incus is a system container and virtual machine manager. In versions before 7.0.0, broken TLS validation logic in the OVN database connection logic can allow connections to an attacker's OVN database. The OVN client implementations disable Go standard TLS server verification and replace it with custom peer-certificate verification logic. That replacement verifier does not anchor trust in the configured CA certificate. Instead, it constructs the verification root set from certificates supplied by the peer during the handshake, so the configured CA is parsed but not used as the trust anchor for the final verification decision. In OVN-enabled deployments that use these SSL database connection paths, an attacker able to impersonate or intercept the OVN endpoint on the management network can present a rogue self-signed certificate chain, and Incus will accept this certificate as valid. This issue defeats the intended CA-based trust model for OVN database connections and permits endpoint impersonation by an active attacker in a suitable network position. This issue is fixed in version 7.0.0.

5/6/2026
CVE-2026-40197MEDIUM 6.5

Incus is a system container and virtual machine manager. In versions before 7.0.0, missing validation logic in the storage volume import logic allows an authenticated user with access to the storage volume feature to cause the Incus daemon to crash. The custom volume backup import subsystem contains a nil-pointer dereference vulnerability during import operations. In the snapshot import loop, the daemon iterates over entries from `srcBackup.Config.VolumeSnapshots` and assumes that each slice element is initialized, then dereferences fields such as `Name`, `Config`, `Description`, `CreatedAt`, and `ExpiresAt` without first validating the element itself. Because the yaml unmarshaler accepts explicit null array elements from an attacker-controlled index.yaml and converts them into nil pointers inside the slice, an attacker can supply a backup archive containing a null entry in the volume_snapshots array. This causes a nil-pointer dereference during custom volume import and terminates the daemon, resulting in denial of service on the affected node. Repeated use of this issue can be used to keep Incus offline, causing a denial of service. This issue is fixed in version 7.0.0.

5/6/2026
CVE-2026-8033MEDIUM 5.3

A vulnerability has been found in PicoTronica e-Clinic Healthcare System ECHS 5.7. This affects an unknown function of the file /cdemos/echs/api/v2/ of the component Response Header Handler. Such manipulation leads to information disclosure. The attack may be performed from remote. The exploit has been disclosed to the public and may be used. Upgrading to version 5.7.1 mitigates this issue. It is suggested to upgrade the affected component. The vendor was contacted early, responded in a very professional manner and quickly released a fixed version of the affected product.

5/6/2026