CVE-2026-20023
CWE-787Published: March 4, 2026· Updated: Mar 5, 2026
Official Description
A vulnerability in the OSPF protocol of Cisco Secure Firewall Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software and Cisco Secure Firewall Threat Defense (FTD) Software could allow an unauthenticated, adjacent attacker to corrupt memory on an affected device, resulting in a denial of service (DoS) condition.
This vulnerability is due to memory corruption when parsing OSPF protocol packets. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending crafted OSPF packets to an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause memory corruption causing the affected device to reboot, resulting in a DoS condition.
Technical Analysis
CVE-2026-20023 requires adjacent network access, limiting remote exploitation but still posing risk in shared or local network environments.
The vulnerability requires no privileges and no user interaction, making it a prime target for automated exploitation campaigns and worm-like propagation.
A successful exploit results in availability disruption (denial of service), with a CVSS base score of 6.1.
The vulnerability has a "Changed" scope, meaning successful exploitation can impact components beyond the vulnerable component itself — such as the host operating system or adjacent services.
From a weakness classification perspective (CWE-787): Out-of-bounds write vulnerabilities can lead to data corruption, crashes, or arbitrary code execution.
CVSS v3.1 Vector Breakdown
Affected Vendors & Products
Exploit & PoC Resources
All References (1)
Quick Facts
Related CVEs (CWE-787)
Recommended Actions
- →Apply vendor patches immediately
- →Monitor CVE-2026-20023 in threat intel feeds
- →Review IDS/IPS signatures for exploitation attempts