CVE-2019-12700

Cisco FTD, FMC, and FXOS Software Pluggable Authentication Module Denial of Service Vulnerability

MEDIUM
6.5
CVSS Score
Published: October 2, 2019 at 07:06 PM UTC
Updated: August 11, 2026 at 07:37 PM UTC
8 products affected across 1 vendorSecure Firewall Threat DefenseSecure Firewall Management CenterFirepower Extensible Operating System

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Severity
MEDIUM6.5
Exploit prediction
EPSS 2%
SSVC
No known exploit

Description

A vulnerability in the configuration of the Pluggable Authentication Module (PAM) used in Cisco Firepower Threat Defense (FTD) Software, Cisco Firepower Management Center (FMC) Software, and Cisco FXOS Software could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to cause a denial of service (DoS) condition. The vulnerability is due to improper resource management in the context of user session management. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by connecting to an affected system and performing many simultaneous successful Secure Shell (SSH) logins. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to exhaust system resources and cause the device to reload, resulting in a DoS condition. To exploit this vulnerability, the attacker needs valid user credentials on the system.

Affected

Our own answer: ranges merged, affected separated from platform-only, with confidence and review flags.

cisco-firepower-9300 (same device)
v ≤ 2.22.3 ≤ v < 2.3.1.1552.4 ≤ v < 2.6.1.131
Affected range stops below 2.3.1.155, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement
Affected range stops below 2.6.1.131, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement
v ≤ 6.1.06.2.0 ≤ v < 6.2.3.146.2.3 ≤ v < 6.2.3.7
Affected range stops below 6.2.3.14, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement
Affected range stops below 6.2.3.7, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement
cisco-firepower-1000 (environment) · cisco-firepower-2100 (environment)
v ≤ 6.1.06.2.0 ≤ v < 6.2.2.56.2.0 ≤ v < 6.2.3.146.2.3 ≤ v < 6.2.3.7
cisco-firepower-1000 (environment) · cisco-firepower-2100 (environment)
All versions
All versions
All versions

Remediation

No guide yet

No remediation guidance has been written for this CVE yet. What the record does show:

SSVC — Action Prioritization

SSVCNo known exploitNot automatablePartial impact

SSVC signals action urgency (what to patch first), separate from CVSS which measures severity.

CVSS

Attack Vector
NETWORK
Complexity
LOW
Privileges
LOW
User Interaction
NONE
Scope
UNCHANGED
Confidentiality
NONE
Integrity
NONE
Availability
HIGH
Vector?

Quick Info

StatusMODIFIED
CWE
CWE-400NVD-CWE-Other

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