CVE-2022-20866

Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance Software and Firepower Threat Defense Software RSA Private Key Leak Vulnerability

HIGH
7.5
CVSS Score
Published: August 10, 2022 at 04:20 PM UTC
Updated: August 11, 2026 at 07:33 PM UTC
34 products affected across 1 vendorAdaptive Security ApplianceSecure Firewall Threat DefenseFirepower 4110

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Severity
HIGH7.5
Exploit prediction
EPSS 18%
SSVC
No known exploit

Description

A vulnerability in the handling of RSA keys on devices running Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software and Cisco Firepower Threat Defense (FTD) Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to retrieve an RSA private key. This vulnerability is due to a logic error when the RSA key is stored in memory on a hardware platform that performs hardware-based cryptography. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by using a Lenstra side-channel attack against the targeted device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to retrieve the RSA private key. The following conditions may be observed on an affected device: This vulnerability will apply to approximately 5 percent of the RSA keys on a device that is running a vulnerable release of Cisco ASA Software or Cisco FTD Software; not all RSA keys are expected to be affected due to mathematical calculations applied to the RSA key. The RSA key could be valid but have specific characteristics that make it vulnerable to the potential leak of the RSA private key. If an attacker obtains the RSA private key, they could use the key to impersonate a device that is running Cisco ASA Software or Cisco FTD Software or to decrypt the device traffic. See the Indicators of Compromise section for more information on the detection of this type of RSA key. The RSA key could be malformed and invalid. A malformed RSA key is not functional, and a TLS client connection to a device that is running Cisco ASA Software or Cisco FTD Software that uses the malformed RSA key will result in a TLS signature failure, which means a vulnerable software release created an invalid RSA signature that failed verification. If an attacker obtains the RSA private key, they could use the key to impersonate a device that is running Cisco ASA Software or Cisco FTD Software or to decrypt the device traffic.

Affected

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

9.16.0 ≤ v < 9.16.3.199.17.0 ≤ v < 9.17.1.139.18.0 ≤ v < 9.18.2
Affected range stops below 9.16.3.19, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement
Affected range stops below 9.17.1.13, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement
Affected range stops below 9.18.2, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement
cisco-asa-5506-x (environment) · cisco-asa-5506h-x (environment) · cisco-asa-5506w-x (environment) · cisco-asa-5508-x (environment) · cisco-asa-5516-x (environment) · cisco-firepower-1000 (environment) · cisco-firepower-1010 (environment) · cisco-firepower-1020 (environment) · cisco-firepower-1030 (environment) · cisco-firepower-1040 (environment) · cisco-firepower-1120 (environment) · cisco-firepower-1140 (environment) · cisco-firepower-1150 (environment) · cisco-firepower-2100 (environment) · cisco-firepower-2110 (environment) · cisco-firepower-2120 (environment) · cisco-firepower-2130 (environment) · cisco-firepower-2140 (environment) · cisco-firepower-4100 (environment) · cisco-firepower-4110 (environment) · cisco-firepower-4112 (environment) · cisco-firepower-4115 (environment) · cisco-firepower-4120 (environment) · cisco-firepower-4125 (environment) · cisco-firepower-4140 (environment) · cisco-firepower-4145 (environment) · cisco-firepower-4150 (environment) · cisco-firepower-9300 (environment) · cisco-secure-firewall-3110 (environment) · cisco-secure-firewall-3120 (environment) · cisco-secure-firewall-3130 (environment) · cisco-secure-firewall-3140 (environment)
7.0.0 ≤ v < 7.0.47.1.0 ≤ v < 7.2.0.1
cisco-asa-5506-x (environment) · cisco-asa-5506h-x (environment) · cisco-asa-5506w-x (environment) · cisco-asa-5508-x (environment) · cisco-asa-5516-x (environment) · cisco-firepower-1000 (environment) · cisco-firepower-1010 (environment) · cisco-firepower-1020 (environment) · cisco-firepower-1030 (environment) · cisco-firepower-1040 (environment) · cisco-firepower-1120 (environment) · cisco-firepower-1140 (environment) · cisco-firepower-1150 (environment) · cisco-firepower-2100 (environment) · cisco-firepower-2110 (environment) · cisco-firepower-2120 (environment) · cisco-firepower-2130 (environment) · cisco-firepower-2140 (environment) · cisco-firepower-4100 (environment) · cisco-firepower-4110 (environment) · cisco-firepower-4112 (environment) · cisco-firepower-4115 (environment) · cisco-firepower-4120 (environment) · cisco-firepower-4125 (environment) · cisco-firepower-4140 (environment) · cisco-firepower-4145 (environment) · cisco-firepower-4150 (environment) · cisco-firepower-9300 (environment) · cisco-secure-firewall-3110 (environment) · cisco-secure-firewall-3120 (environment) · cisco-secure-firewall-3130 (environment) · cisco-secure-firewall-3140 (environment)
All versions
All versions
All versions
All versions
All versions
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 automatableTotal impact

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

CVSS

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

Quick Info

StatusMODIFIED
CWE
CWE-203

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