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CVE Record

CVE-2020-3188: Cisco Firepower Threat Defense Software Management Interface Denial of Service Vulnerability

A vulnerability in how Cisco Firepower Threat Defense (FTD) Software handles session timeouts for management connections could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to cause a buildup of remote management connections to an affected device, which could result in a denial of service (DoS) condition. The vulnerability exists because the default session timeout period for specific to-the-box remote management connections is too long. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a large and sustained number of crafted remote management connections to an affected device, resulting in a buildup of those connections over time. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause the remote management interface or Cisco Firepower Device Manager (FDM) to stop responding and cause other management functions to go offline, resulting in a DoS condition. The user traffic that is flowing through the device would not be affected, and the DoS condition would be isolated to remote management only.

MediumCVSS 5.3Not KEV-listedUpdated
Glexia's TakeAutomated analysismoderate

Security readout for executives and security teams

Plain-English summary

This issue can make Cisco FTD remote management stop responding if an attacker can reach the management service and sustain many crafted connections. It affects management availability, including FDM and related functions, but the source states traffic passing through the firewall is not affected.

Executive priority

Treat this as a moderate operational risk. It does not stop firewall traffic per the source, but it can remove administrative visibility and control during an incident. Prioritize externally reachable or broadly accessible management interfaces.

Technical view

CVE-2020-3188 is an unauthenticated network DoS in Cisco Firepower Threat Defense management handling. Specific to-the-box remote management sessions have an overly long default timeout, allowing connection buildup over time. CVSS is 5.3, availability impact only, mapped to CWE-399.

Likely exposure

Exposure is most relevant where Cisco FTD management or FDM is reachable from untrusted networks. The bundle does not provide affected version ranges, so teams must confirm applicability against Cisco guidance and their deployed FTD versions.

Exploitation context

The source bundle does not show CISA KEV listing or active exploitation evidence. Exploitation requires remote reachability to management services and sustained crafted management connections. Impact is management-plane denial of service, not data-plane traffic disruption.

Researcher notes

Key evidence is Cisco's description of long default session timeout for specific management connections. Version and fix details are not included in the supplied bundle. Avoid assuming broader Cisco products, data-plane impact, or active exploitation without additional sources.

Mitigation direction

  • Check Cisco's advisory for affected releases, fixed software, and supported workaround guidance.
  • Restrict FTD management access to trusted administrative networks only.
  • Block internet exposure of FDM and remote management interfaces.
  • Monitor management-plane connection volume and management service availability.
  • Prioritize remediation where management interfaces are reachable from broad networks.

Validation and detection

  • Inventory Cisco Firepower Threat Defense deployments and enabled management interfaces.
  • Determine whether FDM or remote management is reachable from untrusted networks.
  • Compare deployed FTD versions against Cisco's advisory guidance.
  • Review logs and monitoring for management connection buildup or management service outages.
  • Confirm user traffic impact separately from management-plane symptoms.
Prepared
Confidence
medium
Sources
3

Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.

Potential ATT&CK relevance

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.

cwe · low confidence lookup

CWE-399: Exact CWE lookup

Use the exact CWE identifier as the starting point before reviewing related ATT&CK behavior. Open the exact CWE lookup page first, then review the ATT&CK searches from that MITRE weakness context. This is a Glexia lookup hint, not an official ATT&CK mapping.

Open ATT&CK lookup
cve · low confidence lookup

CVE-2020-3188 mapping review

Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.

Open ATT&CK lookup
Vulnerability profileCVE Program record
Severity
Medium
CVSS
5.3 (3.0)
Known Exploited
No
Published

Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L

Official CVE source material

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.

1CVSS vectors
0Timeline events
0ADP providers
2Source links

CVSS vector scores

1 official score

We collect every scored CVSS vector available in the official CNA and ADP containers. When more than one version is present, the table keeps the source vectors side by side instead of collapsing them into the highest score.

ScoreVersionSeverityVectorExploitImpactSource
5.3CVSS 3.0MediumCVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L3.91.4Primary CVE score

Vulnerability scoring details

Base CVSS 3.0 score

5.3Medium
CVSS 3.0 vector shape for CVE-2020-3188Attack VectorAttack ComplexityPrivileges RequiredUser InteractionScopeConfidentiality ImpactIntegrity ImpactAvailability Impact

Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L

Attack Vector
NetworkAdjacentLocalPhysical
Attack Complexity
LowHigh
Privileges Required
NoneLowHigh
User Interaction
NoneRequired
Scope
ChangedUnchanged
Confidentiality Impact
HighLowNone
Integrity Impact
HighLowNone
Availability Impact
HighLowNone
Affected products

Products and packages named in the record

VendorProductVersion / packageStatus
CiscoCisco Firepower Threat Defense Softwaren/aListed
Weakness

CWE details

CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.

CWE-399 · source CWE mapping

Resource Management Errors

Resource Management Errors represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.