Network Security, Patch/Configuration Management, Vulnerability Management

Cisco takes a second crack at fixing critical ASA bug

Cisco Systems on Monday released a second fix for a critical vulnerability in the XML parser of its Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) after finding additional attack vendors and learning that its previous repair job was insufficient.

Unauthenticated, remote attackers can exploit the flaw, CVE-2018-0101, to trigger remote code execution or a denial of service condition. On Jan. 29, 2018, Cisco originally published a security advisory announcing a software patch for the bug, which possesses a CVSS score of 10.0 and was discovered by Cedric Halbronn, a senior security researcher with NCC Group.

"After broadening the investigation, Cisco engineers found other attack vectors and features that are affected by this vulnerability that were not originally identified by the NCC Group and subsequently updated the security advisory," explains Omar Santos, principal engineer with the Cisco Product Security Incident Response Team (PSIRT), in a company blog post. "In addition, it was also found that the original list of fixed releases published in the security advisory were later found to be vulnerable to additional denial of service conditions. A new comprehensive fix for Cisco ASA platforms is now available."

Bradley Barth

As director of multimedia content strategy at CyberRisk Alliance, Bradley Barth develops content for online conferences, webcasts, podcasts video/multimedia projects — often serving as moderator or host. For nearly six years, he wrote and reported for SC Media as deputy editor and, before that, senior reporter. He was previously a program executive with the tech-focused PR firm Voxus. Past journalistic experience includes stints as business editor at Executive Technology, a staff writer at New York Sportscene and a freelance journalist covering travel and entertainment. In his spare time, Bradley also writes screenplays.

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