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TI-2022-05518 Aliases CVE-2022-20960GHSA-m7jq-xvr4-f7xc

Uncontrolled resource consumption in Cisco Secure Email

Priority LOW 35CWE-400Published · Updated

Key facts

Attack vector
Network
Privileges required
None
User interaction
None
Attack complexity
Low
Impact type
Denial of service, Spoofing
Confidentiality · integrity · availability
None · None · High
Fix status
No fix listed

Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CNA. Fix status from CNA. Impact type from CWE-400 and CWE-295.

Summary

A vulnerability in Cisco AsyncOS Software for Cisco Email Security Appliance (ESA) could allow an unauthenticated remote attacker to cause a denial of service (DoS) condition on an affected device. This vulnerability is due to improper handling of certain TLS connections that are processed by an affected device. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by establishing a large number of concurrent TLS connections to an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause the device to drop new TLS email messages that come from the associated email servers. Exploitation of this vulnerability does not cause the affected device to unexpectedly reload. The device will recover autonomously within a few hours of when the attack is halted or mitigated.

Why it matters now

EPSS 0.0092 60th percentileScored 2026-11-07
Fix No fix listed No fixed version in the sources yet

SSVC decision points

Not available: CISA has not published SSVC decision points for this record.

Affected products

VendorProductAffected versionsFixed inStatusSource
CiscoCisco Secure Email11.0.3-238; 11.1.0-069; 11.1.0-131; 11.1.0-128; 12.0.0-419; 12.1.0-071; 12.1.0-087; 12.1.0-089; 13.0.0-392; 13.5.1-277; 12.5.0-066; 14.0.0-698; 14.2.0-620—No fix listedCNA
  • Cisco Secure Email VendorCisco Affected 11.0.3-238; 11.1.0-069; 11.1.0-131; 11.1.0-128; 12.0.0-419; 12.1.0-071; 12.1.0-087; 12.1.0-089; 13.0.0-392; 13.5.1-277; 12.5.0-066; 14.0.0-698; 14.2.0-620 Fixed in — No fix listed CNA

CPE configurations NVD · 1

CPEVersionsRoleVendor
cpe:2.3:a:cisco:email_security_appliance:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*before 14.2.1-015; 14.3.0 to before 14.3.0-020VulnerableCisco
  • cpe:2.3:a:cisco:email_security_appliance:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions before 14.2.1-015; 14.3.0 to before 14.3.0-020 Vulnerable ·Cisco

Remediation

No fixed version listed by the sources yet.

Timeline

  1. 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2022-20960
  2. 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-m7jq-xvr4-f7xc

References

Other 1

  • TI-2022-05357 Cisco Email Security Appliance and Cisco Secure Email and Web Manager External Authentication Bypass Vulnerability CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
  • TI-2019-01567 Cisco Email Security Appliance Denial of Service Vulnerability CVSS 3.1HIGH 8.6
  • TI-2018-00378 Improper input validation in Cisco Email Security Appliance CVSS 3.0HIGH 7.5
  • TI-2020-02695 Cisco Email Security Appliance Content Filter Bypass Vulnerability CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.5
  • TI-2019-01541 Cisco Email Security Appliance Content Filter Bypass Vulnerability CVSS 3.0HIGH 7.5
  • TI-2019-01553 Cisco Email Security Appliance Content Filter Bypass Vulnerability CVSS 3.0HIGH 7.4
See all 49 →

Sources

This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. Sources and licences