A vulnerability in the Transport Layer Security (TLS) protocol implementation of Cisco AsyncOS software for Cisco Email Security Appliance (ESA) could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to cause high CPU usage on an affected device, resulting in a denial of service (DoS) condition. The vulnerability is due to inefficient processing of incoming TLS traffic. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a series of crafted TLS packets to an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to trigger a prolonged state of high CPU utilization. The affected device would still be operative, but response time and overall performance may be degraded.There are no workarounds that address this vulnerability.

A vulnerability in the web-based management interface of Cisco AsyncOS Software for Cisco Content Security Management Appliance (SMA) could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to access sensitive information on an affected device. The vulnerability exists because confidential information is being included in HTTP requests that are exchanged between the user and the device. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by looking at the raw HTTP requests that are sent to the interface. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to obtain some of the passwords that are configured throughout the interface.Cisco has released software updates that address this vulnerability. There are no workarounds that address this vulnerability.

Vulnerability in the CLI of Cisco Secure Email Gateway could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to execute arbitrary commands. These vulnerability is due to improper input validation in the CLI. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by injecting operating system commands into a legitimate command. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to escape the restricted command prompt and execute arbitrary commands on the underlying operating system. To successfully exploit this vulnerability, an attacker would need valid Administrator credentials.

A vulnerability in the Web UI and administrative CLI of the Cisco Secure Email Gateway (ESA) and Cisco Secure Email and Web Manager (SMA) could allow an authenticated remote attacker and or authenticated local attacker to escalate their privilege level and gain root access. The attacker has to have a valid user credential with at least a [[privilege of operator - validate actual name]]. The vulnerability is due to the processing of a specially crafted SNMP configuration file. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by authenticating to the targeted device and uploading a specially crafted SNMP configuration file that when uploaded could allow for the execution of commands as root. An exploit could allow the attacker to gain root access on the device.

Multiple vulnerabilities in the web UI and CLI of Cisco Email Security Appliance (ESA) and Cisco Secure Email and Web Manager could allow an authenticated attacker to perform injection attacks or elevate privileges.For more information about these vulnerabilities, see the

On January 18, 2023, Cisco disclosed the following:A vulnerability in the URL filtering mechanism of Cisco AsyncOS Software for Cisco Email Security Appliance (ESA) could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to bypass the URL reputation filters on an affected

A vulnerability in Cisco Email Security Appliance (ESA) and Cisco Secure Email and Web Manager could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to conduct an HTTP response splitting attack. This vulnerability is due to the failure of the application or its environment to properly sanitize input values. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by injecting malicious HTTP headers, controlling the response body, or splitting the response into multiple responses.

A vulnerability in Cisco AsyncOS Software for Cisco Email Security Appliance (ESA) could allow an unauthenticated remote attacker to cause a denial of service (DoS) condition on an affected device. This vulnerability is due to improper handling of certain TLS connections that are processed by an affected device. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by establishing a large number of concurrent TLS connections to an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause the device to drop new TLS email messages that come from the associated email servers. Exploitation of this vulnerability does not cause the affected device to unexpectedly reload. The device will recover autonomously within a few hours of when the attack is halted or mitigated.

A vulnerability in the external authentication functionality of Cisco Secure Email and Web Manager, formerly known as Cisco Security Management Appliance (SMA), and Cisco Email Security Appliance (ESA) could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to bypass authentication and log in to the web management interface of an affected device. This vulnerability is due to improper authentication checks when an affected device uses Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) for external authentication. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by entering a specific input on the login page of the affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to gain unauthorized access to the web-based management interface of the affected device.

A vulnerability in the web management interface of Cisco Secure Email and Web Manager, formerly Cisco Security Management Appliance (SMA), and Cisco Email Security Appliance (ESA) could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to retrieve sensitive information from a Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) external authentication server connected to an affected device. This vulnerability is due to a lack of proper input sanitization while querying the external authentication server. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a crafted query through an external authentication web page. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to gain access to sensitive information, including user credentials from the external authentication server. To exploit this vulnerability, an attacker would need valid operator-level (or higher) credentials.

A vulnerability in the TCP/IP stack of Cisco Email Security Appliance (ESA), Cisco Web Security Appliance (WSA), and Cisco Secure Email and Web Manager, formerly Security Management Appliance, could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to crash the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) service, resulting in a denial of service (DoS) condition. This vulnerability is due to an open port listener on TCP port 199. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by connecting to TCP port 199. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to crash the SNMP service, resulting in a DoS condition.

A vulnerability in the Cisco Advanced Malware Protection (AMP) for Endpoints integration of Cisco AsyncOS for Cisco Email Security Appliance (ESA) and Cisco Web Security Appliance (WSA) could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to intercept traffic between an affected device and the AMP servers. This vulnerability is due to improper certificate validation when an affected device establishes TLS connections. A man-in-the-middle attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a crafted TLS packet to an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to spoof a trusted host and then extract sensitive information or alter certain API requests.

A vulnerability in the web-based management interface of Cisco AsyncOS Software for Cisco Content Security Management Appliance (SMA), Cisco Email Security Appliance (ESA), and Cisco Web Security Appliance (WSA) could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to access sensitive information on an affected device. The vulnerability exists because confidential information is included in HTTP requests that are exchanged between the user and the device. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by looking at the raw HTTP requests that are sent to the interface. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to obtain some of the passwords that are configured throughout the interface.

A vulnerability in the authentication for the general purpose APIs implementation of Cisco Email Security Appliance (ESA), Cisco Content Security Management Appliance (SMA), and Cisco Web Security Appliance (WSA) could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to access general system information and certain configuration information from an affected device. The vulnerability exists because a secure authentication token is not required when authenticating to the general purpose API. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a crafted request for information to the general purpose API on an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to obtain system and configuration information from the affected device, resulting in an unauthorized information disclosure.

A vulnerability in the antispam protection mechanisms of Cisco AsyncOS Software for Cisco Email Security Appliance (ESA) could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to bypass the URL reputation filters on an affected device. The vulnerability is due to insufficient input validation of URLs. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by crafting a URL in a particular way. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to bypass the URL reputation filters that are configured for the affected device, which could allow malicious URLs to pass through the device. 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-esa-url-bypass-zZtugtg3

A vulnerability in the email message filtering feature of Cisco AsyncOS Software for Cisco Email Security Appliance (ESA) could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to cause the CPU utilization to increase to 100 percent, causing a denial of service (DoS) condition on an affected device. The vulnerability is due to improper handling of email messages that contain large attachments. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a malicious email message through the targeted device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause a permanent DoS condition due to high CPU utilization. This vulnerability may require manual intervention to recover the ESA.

A vulnerability in the email message filtering feature of Cisco AsyncOS Software for Cisco Email Security Appliance (ESA) and Cisco Content Security Management Appliance (SMA) could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to cause repeated crashes in some internal processes that are running on the affected devices, resulting in a denial of service (DoS) condition. The vulnerability is due to insufficient input validation of email attachments. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending an email message with a crafted attachment through an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to cause specific processes to crash repeatedly, resulting in the complete unavailability of both the Cisco Advanced Malware Protection (AMP) and message tracking features and in severe performance degradation while processing email. After the affected processes restart, the software resumes filtering for the same attachment, causing the affected processes to crash and restart again. A successful exploit could also allow the attacker to cause a repeated DoS condition. Manual intervention may be required to recover from this situation.

A vulnerability in the email message scanning of Cisco AsyncOS Software for Cisco Email Security Appliance (ESA) could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to bypass configured filters on the device. The vulnerability is due to improper validation of incoming emails. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a crafted email message to a recipient protected by the ESA. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to bypass the configured content filters, which could allow malicious content to pass through the device.

A vulnerability in the web-based management interface of Cisco Email Security Appliance (ESA) could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to conduct a cross-site scripting (XSS) attack against a user of the web-based management interface of an affected device. The vulnerability exists because the web-based management interface of the affected device does not properly validate user-supplied input. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by persuading a user to click a malicious link. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary script code in the context of the affected interface or to access sensitive, browser-based information.

A vulnerability in the web-based management interface of Cisco AsyncOS software for Cisco Email Security Appliance (ESA), Cisco Content Security Management Appliance (SMA), and Cisco Web Security Appliance (WSA) could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to access sensitive information on an affected device. The vulnerability exists because an insecure method is used to mask certain passwords on the web-based management interface. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by looking at the raw HTML code that is received from the interface. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to obtain some of the passwords configured throughout the interface.

A vulnerability in the web-based management interface of Cisco AsyncOS software for Cisco Email Security Appliance (ESA) could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to access sensitive information on an affected device. The vulnerability is due to insufficient validation of requests that are sent to the web-based management interface. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a crafted request to the interface of an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to obtain the IP addresses that are configured on the internal interfaces of the affected device. There is a workaround that addresses this vulnerability.

A vulnerability in the web-based management interface of Cisco AsyncOS software for Cisco Email Security Appliance (ESA) could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to access sensitive information on an affected device. The vulnerability is due to insufficient validation of requests that are sent to the web-based management interface. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a crafted request to the interface of an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to obtain the IP addresses that are configured on the internal interfaces of the affected device. There is a workaround that addresses this vulnerability. This advisory is available at the following link:https://sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-esa-info-disclosure-vMJMMgJ

A vulnerability in the CLI of Cisco AsyncOS for Cisco Email Security Appliance (ESA) and Cisco AsyncOS for Cisco Content Security Management Appliance (SMA) could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to access sensitive information on an affected device. The vulnerability is due to excessive verbosity in certain log subscriptions. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by accessing specific log files on an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to obtain sensitive log data, which may include user credentials. To exploit this vulnerability, the attacker would need to have valid credentials at the operator level or higher on the affected device.

A vulnerability in URL filtering of Cisco Content Security Management Appliance (SMA) could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to bypass URL filtering on an affected device. The vulnerability is due to insufficient input validation. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a crafted, malicious HTTP request to an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to redirect users to malicious sites.

A vulnerability in URL filtering for Cisco Email Security Appliance (ESA) could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to bypass URL filtering on an affected device. The vulnerability is due to insufficient input validation. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a crafted, malicious HTTP request to an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to redirect users to malicious sites. 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-ESA-filt-39jXvMfM

A vulnerability in the antispam protection mechanisms of Cisco AsyncOS Software for Cisco Email Security Appliance (ESA) could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to bypass the URL reputation filters on an affected device. The vulnerability is due to insufficient input validation of URLs. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by crafting the URL in a particular way. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to bypass the URL reputation filters that are configured for the affected device, which could allow malicious URLs to pass through the device.

A vulnerability in the antispam protection mechanisms of Cisco AsyncOS Software for Cisco Email Security Appliance (ESA) could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to bypass the URL reputation filters on an affected device. The vulnerability is due to insufficient input validation of URLs. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by crafting the URL in a particular way. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to bypass the URL reputation filters that are configured for the affected device, which could allow malicious URLs to pass through the device. 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-esa-url-bypass-WO4BZ75s

A vulnerability in the email message scanning of Cisco AsyncOS Software for Cisco Email Security Appliance (ESA) could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to bypass configured filters on the device. The vulnerability is due to improper validation of incoming emails. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a crafted email message to a recipient protected by the ESA. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to bypass the configured content filters, which could allow malicious content to pass through the device. 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-esa-bypass-5Cdv2HMA

A vulnerability in the web-based management interface of Cisco Email Security Appliance (ESA) could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to conduct a cross-site scripting (XSS) attack against a user of the web-based management interface of an affected device. The vulnerability exists because the web-based management interface of the affected device does not properly validate user-supplied input. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by persuading a user to click a malicious link. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary script code in the context of the affected interface or to access sensitive, browser-based information. 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-email-sec-xss-EbjXuXwP

A vulnerability in the zip decompression engine of Cisco AsyncOS Software for Cisco Email Security Appliance (ESA) could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to cause a denial of service (DoS) condition on an affected device. The vulnerability is due to improper validation of zip files. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending an email message with a crafted zip-compressed attachment. A successful exploit could trigger a restart of the content-scanning process, causing a temporary DoS condition. Cisco has released software updates that address the vulnerability described in this advisory. 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-esa-dos-87mBkc8n