What is CVE-2024-20481?

CVE-2024-20481 is Cisco ASA and FTD Denial-of-Service Vulnerability. The supplied enrichment data classifies it as Unclassified mapped to CWE-772 CWE-772.

Which versions are affected?

Affected product and version evidence is listed in the product table above. Current public advisories should be checked for exact version scope before patch targeting is finalized.

Is there active exploitation?

Yes: CISA KEV signal present. If exploitation is not confirmed from current sources, teams should document that status and continue monitoring KEV, vendor, and telemetry updates.

Is there a public exploit?

A public PoC is not confirmed from current sources for CVE-2024-20481. Public exploit or PoC availability should raise triage priority, especially for exposed or business-critical systems.

How can defenders detect it?

Start with web/proxy/WAF logs, application logs, network IDS/IPS where available. Look for vulnerability-class behavior, product errors, suspicious authentication events, exploit probes, and abnormal process activity based only on evidence that applies to the affected product.

How should teams prioritize it?

Prioritize CVE-2024-20481 using CVSS 5.8, EPSS 16%, KEV status, public PoC status, and asset exposure. Internet-facing, privileged, or business-critical deployments should be handled first.

Are workarounds available?

The supplied mitigation guidance says to apply vendor patches and restrict external exposure until fixed. Fixed-version evidence is listed in the mitigation section above.

Which threat actors are linked publicly?

No public threat actor linkage is confirmed from current sources. Do not attribute exploitation to a threat actor unless the source evidence explicitly supports that linkage.

What should be done in the next 24 hours?

Identify exposed assets running affected vendor/product/version combinations. Treat as emergency remediation because CISA KEV status is present. Search available logs for exploit probes, errors, authentication anomalies, or suspicious child processes matching the vulnerability class. Open remediation tickets with affected assets, owners, evidence status, and detection coverage so decisions are traceable.

CISA KEVmedium

CVE-2024-20481

CVE-2024-20481 — Cisco ASA and FTD Denial-of-Service Vulnerability

Q: Is it in CISA KEV?

Yes. The supplied enrichment data lists CVE-2024-20481 in CISA KEV with required action: Apply mitigations per vendor instructions or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.. KEV status should be monitored because it can change after initial disclosure or after exploitation becomes publicly confirmed.

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.

Published Oct 23, 2024Updated Jun 17, 2026Sources: NVD, CISA, FIRST EPSS

Triage

Is it exploited, how likely is exploitation, what does it touch, and how severe do the scoring sources call it.

Exploitation

Confirmed

CISA KEV, listed Oct 24, 2024

EPSS

16%

ahead of 97% of scored CVEs

Affects

cisco

4 products listed

CVSS base

5.8

medium

CISA SSVC assessment

Three decision points CISA publishes for the CVEs it assesses · SSVC 2.0.3. A stakeholder decision, not a severity score.

CISA

Exploitation

Active

none · proof-of-concept · active

Automatable

Yes

can an attacker script all four kill-chain steps

Technical impact

Partial

partial · total control of the vulnerable component

Remediation

The vendor's own words where we have them.

Upgrade cisco_adaptive_security_appliance_asa_software to a fixed release. Apply vendor patches per advisory and restrict external exposure of the affected component until patched.

CISA required action

Apply mitigations per vendor instructions or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.

Federal deadline Nov 14, 2024 — passed 675 days ago

First 24 hours

Ordered from the record's own fields — exposure first, because you cannot patch what you have not found.

Identify exposed assets running affected vendor/product/version combinations.
Treat as emergency remediation because CISA KEV status is present.
Search available logs for exploit probes, errors, authentication anomalies, or suspicious child processes matching the vulnerability class.

Affected scope

Vendor, product and version as the advisories word them.

Vendor	Product	Versions	Status
cisco	cisco_adaptive_security_appliance_asa_software	—	Vulnerable
cisco	cisco_firepower_threat_defense_software	—	Vulnerable
cisco	adaptive_security_appliance_software	—	Vulnerable
cisco	firepower_threat_defense_software	—	Vulnerable

Attack characteristics

The CVSS vector, decoded. It describes the attack, not your exposure to it.

Availability

Low

Confidentiality

None

Integrity

None

Scope

Changed

Attack Complexity

Low

Attack Vector

Network

Privileges Req

None

User Interaction

None

Every base score collected

Sources score independently and disagree; each row says who scored it and under which version.

Score	Version	Severity	Expl.	Impact	Source
5.8	CVSS 3.1	medium	3.9	1.4	Cisco (CNA), NVD

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

Weakness & attack patterns

CWE-772

Inferred from the weakness class — not observed against this CVE.

T1499.002Endpoint Denial of Service: Service Exhaustion Flood

CISA KEV details

CISA lists a CVE here once it has evidence of exploitation against real targets.

CISAThat month →

Listed

Oct 24, 2024

Federal deadline

Nov 14, 2024

passed 675 days ago

Ransomware use

Unknown

CISA records ransomware use only for campaigns it has confirmed, so “Unknown” means unrecorded, not ruled out. The deadline binds US federal agencies; for everyone else it is a date to argue against.

Detection

Read off the CVSS vector and the weakness class. Starting points, not rules we have tested.

Prioritize edge telemetry for network-reachable cisco_adaptive_security_appliance_asa_software, cisco_firepower_threat_defense_software, adaptive_security_appliance_software, firepower_threat_defense_software.

web/proxy/WAF logsapplication logsnetwork IDS/IPS

Timeline

What happened to this CVE, newest first — with the readings a source repeats on a schedule counted underneath rather than listed.

2026
Added · CVSS 3.1 5.8 (AV:N)
Jun 17, 2026 · NVD
2024
Added to CISA KEV catalog
Oct 24, 2024 · CISA
Initial · CVE published
Oct 23, 2024 · NVD

References

3 on the record

sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-asaftd-bf-dos-vDZhLqrW
Vendor Advisory
www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2024-20481
US Government Resource
nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-20481
Vendor Advisory

Elsewhere on this site

ciscoevery CVE for this vendor
October 2024what else CISA listed
Unclassifiedsame class
CWE-772other pages naming this weakness

Not in any source we poll

Listed rather than left blank: an empty field and an unmeasured one look identical on screen, and only one is a reason to look elsewhere.

No confirmed IOCs, IP addresses, domains, file hashes, or malware artifacts supplied.
No organization-specific asset inventory, compensating-control status, or patch deployment evidence supplied.
No exploit packet captures, log samples, or incident case IDs supplied.

Answered from this record1

What should defenders know first?

CVE-2024-20481 is Cisco ASA and FTD Denial-of-Service Vulnerability, a medium vulnerability affecting cisco_adaptive_security_appliance_asa_software, cisco_firepower_threat_defense_software, adaptive_security_appliance_software, firepower_threat_defense_software from cisco. The current evidence lists it in CISA KEV, and the exploit status is: Yes: CISA KEV signal present. Public exploit evidence is: A public PoC is not confirmed from current sources for CVE-2024-20481. The affected-version evidence is listed in the key facts and affected products tables. Defenders should first verify whether exposed or business-critical assets run those versions, then apply vendor patches or mitigations, restrict reachable attack surface, and preserve logs for detection review. CVSS 5.8 describes technical severity, while EPSS 16% helps estimate near-term exploit likelihood; neither replaces asset context. Unknown fields should remain explicit in tickets, and threat actor, IOC, victimology, or payload claims should not be added unless a cited source supports them. Monitor CISA KEV, vendor advisories, NVD changes, public PoC repositories, and internal telemetry for update triggers.