Cisco ASA/FTD GCM-IKEv2 Memory Overrun Causing DoS
CVE-2026-20049 Published on March 4, 2026

A vulnerability in the processing of Galois/Counter Mode (GCM)-encrypted Internet Key Exchange version 2 (IKEv2) IPsec traffic of Cisco Secure Firewall Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software and Cisco Secure Firewall Threat Defense (FTD) Software could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to cause a denial of service (DoS) condition on an affected device. This vulnerability is due to the allocation of an insufficiently sized block of memory. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending crafted GCM-encrypted IPsec traffic to an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause an unexpected reload of the device, resulting in a DoS condition. To exploit this vulnerability, the attacker must have valid credentials to establish a VPN connection with the affected device.

NVD

Vulnerability Analysis

CVE-2026-20049 can be exploited with network access, and requires small amount of user privileges. This vulnerability is considered to have a low attack complexity. The potential impact of an exploit of this vulnerability is considered to have no impact on confidentiality and integrity, and a high impact on availability.

Attack Vector:
NETWORK
Attack Complexity:
LOW
Privileges Required:
LOW
User Interaction:
NONE
Scope:
CHANGED
Confidentiality Impact:
NONE
Integrity Impact:
NONE
Availability Impact:
HIGH

Weakness Type

Incorrect Calculation of Buffer Size

The software does not correctly calculate the size to be used when allocating a buffer, which could lead to a buffer overflow.


Products Associated with CVE-2026-20049

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Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance
 

Affected Versions

Cisco Secure Firewall Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software: Cisco Secure Firewall Threat Defense (FTD) Software:

Exploit Probability

EPSS
0.14%
Percentile
33.16%

EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) scores estimate the probability that a vulnerability will be exploited in the wild within the next 30 days. The percentile shows you how this score compares to all other vulnerabilities.