Analyst readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
This issue affects Cisco ASA 5580 security appliances running software before 8.1(2). A specially crafted X.509 certificate with Subject Alternative Name fields can trigger a memory leak, potentially consuming memory until the device fails or becomes unavailable.
Executive priority
Treat as an availability risk to perimeter security infrastructure. Priority should be higher if affected ASA 5580 devices are internet-facing, support remote access, or sit in critical network paths.
Technical view
CVE-2009-4914 is a remote denial-of-service issue in Cisco ASA 5580 software before 8.1(2), tracked by Cisco as CSCsq17879. The trigger is certificate handling involving X.509 Subject Alternative Name fields, leading to memory consumption. No CVSS score, CWE, or detailed affected CPE data is provided.
Likely exposure
Exposure is limited to Cisco ASA 5580 series devices on software before 8.1(2), especially where the appliance processes peer or client certificates. The source bundle does not identify other ASA models or products.
Exploitation context
The CVE states remote attackers can cause denial of service through certificate fields. CISA KEV is false, and the provided sources do not show active exploitation, public exploit availability, or exploitation at scale.
Researcher notes
Evidence is sparse: the CVE description and Cisco release-note reference identify the affected platform, vulnerable version boundary, trigger class, and Cisco bug ID. No CVSS vector, CWE, packet-level detail, or exploit-status evidence is provided.
Mitigation direction
- Upgrade Cisco ASA 5580 software to 8.1(2) or later where applicable.
- Review Cisco guidance for Bug ID CSCsq17879 and supported upgrade paths.
- Monitor appliance memory until vulnerable systems are upgraded.
- Prioritize remediation for internet-facing or certificate-processing ASA deployments.
Validation and detection
- Inventory Cisco ASA 5580 appliances and record running software versions.
- Confirm no affected device is running software before 8.1(2).
- Check Cisco release notes for CSCsq17879 applicability.
- Review memory-health alerts for unexplained growth on affected appliances.
Public sources used
Based on public source material and reviewed before publication.
Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context
These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.
ATT&CK lookup starting points
Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.
CVE-2009-4914 mapping review
Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.
Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- Unknown
- CVSS
- Not scored
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5
These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.
CVSS and timeline data
No CVSS vectors or timeline events were available in the normalized CVE source material.
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/security/asa/asa81/release/notes/asarn812.htmlCVE reference · x_refsource_CONFIRM
Products and packages named in the record
CWE details
CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.