CyberSecBulletin
CVE-2026-20295NVD status: Awaiting Analysis

Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center (FMC): Memory Allocation with Excessive Size Value

CVE-2026-20295 is a high-severity memory allocation with excessive size value vulnerability in Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center (FMC) from Cisco, with a CVSS 3.1 base score of 8.6 out of 10. It can be exploited remotely over the network by an unauthenticated attacker, without any action from a user. Affected Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center (FMC) versions: 7.0.0; 7.0.0.1; 7.0.1, and others listed below. The record does not name a fixed version, so check the vendor advisory. There is no confirmed exploitation so far. EPSS estimates a 0.57% chance of exploitation within 30 days, which is low compared with other CVEs.

Next patch cycle

High severity with no evidence of exploitation so far.

What to do

  1. Check which version of Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center (FMC) you run against the affected versions below, and install the vendor's latest release.
  2. Until you can update, restrict network access to the affected service so it is not reachable from untrusted networks.

Affected products and versions

VendorProductAffected versionsFixed in
CiscoCisco Secure Firewall Management Center (FMC)7.0.0; 7.0.0.1; 7.0.1; 7.0.1.1; 7.0.2; 7.2.0; 7.0.2.1; 7.0.3; and 32 more rangesNot stated
CiscoCisco Secure Firewall Threat Defense (FTD) Software7.0.0; 7.0.0.1; 7.0.1; 7.0.1.1; 7.0.2; 7.2.0; 7.0.2.1; 7.0.3; and 32 more rangesNot stated

Version data comes from the organisation that assigned the CVE. Confirm against the vendor advisory before deciding you are unaffected.

How the severity score breaks down

Attack vector
NetworkCan be exploited remotely over a network, including the internet.
Attack complexity
LowNo special conditions are needed; the attack works reliably.
Privileges required
NoneNo account or login is needed.
User interaction
NoneNo action by a victim is required.
Scope
ChangedThe attack can reach beyond the vulnerable component into other systems.
Confidentiality
NoneNo data is disclosed.
Integrity
NoneNothing can be modified.
Availability
HighThe component can be taken down completely.

Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H. Scored by CNA (cisco.com).

Official description

A vulnerability in the sftunnel inter-device communication protocol of Cisco Secure FMC Software and Cisco Secure FTD Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to exhaust the available memory of an affected device. This vulnerability is due to improper management of memory resources during sftunnel TLS connection setup. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending crafted sftunnel TLS frames to an affected device during the connection setup. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to exhaust the available memory on the affected device, which could result in a DoS condition.

Source: the CVE record as published by its numbering authority, via NVD and CVE.org.

The underlying weakness: Memory Allocation with Excessive Size Value

The product allocates memory based on an untrusted, large size value, but it does not ensure that the size is within expected limits, allowing arbitrary amounts of memory to be allocated.

How developers prevent this class of flaw

  • Perform adequate input validation against any value that influences the amount of memory that is allocated. Define an appropriate strategy for handling requests that exceed the limit, and consider supporting a configuration option so that the administrator can extend the amount of memory to be used if necessary.
  • Run your program using system-provided resource limits for memory. This might still cause the program to crash or exit, but the impact to the rest of the system will be minimized.

More Memory Allocation with Excessive Size Value vulnerabilities (CWE-789)

Timeline

  1. CVE record published.
  2. CISA published its SSVC assessment (exploitation: none, automatable: yes, technical impact: partial).
  3. Record last changed materially (score, affected products, status or references).

References

Other vulnerabilities in Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center (FMC)

All Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center (FMC) vulnerabilities

Recent Memory Allocation with Excessive Size Value vulnerabilities

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