cisco-sa-asaftd-tcpdns-dos-p6dUnjr5: Cisco Secure Firewall Adaptive Security Appliance and Secure Firewall Threat Defense Software TCP DNS Denial of Service Vulnerability

Published Sep 16, 2026
·
Updated

A vulnerability in the DNS over TCP implementation of Cisco Secure Firewall Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software and Cisco Secure Firewall Threat Defense (FTD) Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to cause the TCP DNS response handler to unexpectedly restart, causing the device to reload.This vulnerability is due to a logic error when parsing a DNS query and tracking the size of the incoming buffers. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by formatting a crafted reply to a DNS query sent from the targeted device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause the device to reload, causing a denial of service (DoS) condition.Note: The attacker must be able to respond to DNS queries from the device, either by controlling the DNS service or through a machine-in-the-middle attack.Cisco has released software updates that address this vulnerability. There are no workarounds that address this vulnerability.This advisory is available at the following link:https://sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-asaftd-tcpdns-dos-p6dUnjr5This advisory is part of a group of advisories. For a complete list of the advisories and links to them, see Cisco Advance Notification for Publication of September 16, 2026, Security Advisories. In addition, for further documentation of improvements and fixes in Cisco Secure Firewall products, see Cisco Secure Firewall Adaptive Security Appliance Software, Secure Firewall Threat Defense Software, and Secure Firewall Management Center Software Hardening Release: September 2026.

Affected Software

2 affected components
Cisco Secure Firewall Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software
Cisco Secure Firewall Threat Defense (FTD) Software

Event History

Sep 16, 2026
Advisory Published
via Cisco·04:00 PM
Data Sourced
via Cisco·04:00 PM
DescriptionSeverityWeakness

Frequently Asked Questions

1

Who can realistically exploit this issue?

An unauthenticated remote attacker must be able to send a crafted DNS reply to a DNS query issued by the affected device. This requires control of the DNS service used by the device or a machine-in-the-middle position capable of responding to its DNS queries.

2

What is the operational impact of a successful attack?

A crafted DNS response can cause the TCP DNS response handler to restart unexpectedly, which reloads the device. The resulting condition is a denial of service.

3

What can be done if updates cannot be installed immediately?

No workaround is available. Cisco has released software updates that address the vulnerability.

Contact

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