Cisco Firepower Threat Defense Software Shell Access Vulnerability
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Local
- Privileges required
- High
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- Security bypass
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- High · High · High
- Fix status
- No fix listed
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · NVD. Fix status from CNA. Impact type from CWE-284.
Summary
A vulnerability in the support tunnel feature of Cisco Firepower Threat Defense (FTD) Software could allow an authenticated, local attacker to access the shell of an affected device even though expert mode is disabled. The vulnerability is due to improper configuration of the support tunnel feature. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by enabling the support tunnel, setting a key, and deriving the tunnel password. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to run any system command with root access on an affected device.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- None
- Automatable
- No
- Technical impact
- Total
The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.
Affected products
Remediation
No fixed version listed by the sources yet.
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2020-3253
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-v33g-rjxr-6hm4
References
More Cisco Secure Firewall Threat Defense vulnerabilities
- TI-2025-14628 Buffer overflow in Cisco Secure Firewall Adaptive Security Appliance Software KEVCVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.9
- TI-2021-19919 Apache Log4j2 JNDI features do not protect against attacker controlled LDAP and other JNDI related endpoints KEVCVSS 3.1CRITICAL 10.0
- TI-2023-06973 Authentication bypass in Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance Software KEVCVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.1
- TI-2026-82192 Denial of service in Cisco Secure Firewall ASA and FTD SSL VPN KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.6
- TI-2026-16533 Cisco Secure Firewall Adaptive Security Appliance and Secure Firewall Threat Defense… KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.6
- TI-2025-14657 Missing authorization in Cisco Secure Firewall Adaptive Security Appliance Software KEVCVSS 3.1HIGH 8.6
Sources
- CVE-2020-3253 · CVE Program
- CVE-2020-3253 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-v33g-rjxr-6hm4 · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. Sources and licences