CVE-2019-12700 [Medium] | Denial of Service in Firepower 9300 Firmware

A vulnerability in the configuration of the Pluggable Authentication Module (PAM) used in Cisco Firepower Threat Defense (FTD) Software, Cisco Firepower Management Center (FMC) Software, and Cisco FXOS Software could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to cause a denial of service (DoS) condition. The vulnerability is due to improper resource management in the context of user session management. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by connecting to an affected system and performing many simultaneous successful Secure Shell (SSH) logins. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to exhaust system resources and cause the device to reload, resulting in a DoS condition. To exploit this vulnerability, the attacker needs valid user credentials on the system.

#	Date	Old EPSS score	New EPSS score	Delta (New - Old)
1	2026-06-15	1.35%	1.88%	+0.53%
2	2026-01-06	1.42%	1.35%	-0.07%
3	2025-03-30	—	1.42%	—

Date

Old EPSS score

New EPSS score

Delta (New - Old)

2026-06-15

1.35%

1.88%

+0.53%

2026-01-06

1.42%

1.35%

-0.07%

2025-03-30

—

1.42%

—

Base score	Version	Severity	Vector	Exploitability	Impact	Score source
6.5	3.1	MEDIUM	`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H` Click to expand Attack vector (AV:N) Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine. Attack complexity (AC:L) Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup. Privileges required (PR:L) A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin. User interaction (UI:N) Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping. Scope (S:U) Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems. Confidentiality (C:N) Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way. Integrity (I:N) Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged. Availability (A:H) Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.	2.8	3.6	[email protected]
7.7	3.0	HIGH	`CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H` Click to expand Attack vector (AV:N) Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine. Attack complexity (AC:L) Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup. Privileges required (PR:L) A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin. User interaction (UI:N) Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping. Scope (S:C) Breaking this can reach past the original component and bite other resources—bigger blast radius. Confidentiality (C:N) Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way. Integrity (I:N) Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged. Availability (A:H) Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.	3.1	4.0	[email protected]
6.8	2.0	MEDIUM	`AV:N/AC:L/Au:S/C:N/I:N/A:C` Click to expand Access vector (AV:N) Can be exploited remotely over network reachability. Access complexity (AC:L) Exploitation conditions are straightforward and predictable. Authentication (AU:S) A single authentication is required. Confidentiality impact (C:N) No confidentiality impact. Integrity impact (I:N) No integrity impact. Availability impact (A:C) Complete availability impact.	8.0	6.9	[email protected]

Base score

Version

Severity

Vector

Exploitability

Impact

Score source

6.5

3.1

MEDIUM

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H Click to expand

Attack vector (AV:N): Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L): Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:L): A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:N): Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U): Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:N): Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:N): Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:H): Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.

2.8

3.6

[email protected]

7.7

3.0

HIGH

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H Click to expand

Attack vector (AV:N): Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L): Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:L): A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:N): Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:C): Breaking this can reach past the original component and bite other resources—bigger blast radius.
Confidentiality (C:N): Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:N): Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:H): Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.

3.1

4.0

[email protected]

6.8

2.0

MEDIUM

AV:N/AC:L/Au:S/C:N/I:N/A:C Click to expand

Access vector (AV:N): Can be exploited remotely over network reachability.
Access complexity (AC:L): Exploitation conditions are straightforward and predictable.
Authentication (AU:S): A single authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:N): No confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:N): No integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:C): Complete availability impact.

8.0

6.9

[email protected]

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2019-12700

Vendor	Product	Version	Raw CPE
cisco	firepower_9300_firmware	r114	cpe:2.3:o:cisco:firepower_9300_firmware:r114:::::::*
cisco	firepower_9300_firmware	r241	cpe:2.3:o:cisco:firepower_9300_firmware:r241:::::::*
cisco	firepower_extensible_operating_system	<= 2.2	cpe:2.3:o:cisco:firepower_extensible_operating_system::::::::
cisco	firepower_extensible_operating_system	>= 2.3, < 2.3.1.155	cpe:2.3:o:cisco:firepower_extensible_operating_system::::::::
cisco	firepower_extensible_operating_system	>= 2.4, < 2.6.1.131	cpe:2.3:o:cisco:firepower_extensible_operating_system::::::::
cisco	firepower_threat_defense	<= 6.1.0	cpe:2.3:a:cisco:firepower_threat_defense::::::::
cisco	firepower_threat_defense	>= 6.2.0, < 6.2.3.14	cpe:2.3:a:cisco:firepower_threat_defense::::::::
cisco	secure_firewall_management_center	<= 6.1.0	cpe:2.3:a:cisco:secure_firewall_management_center::::::::
cisco	secure_firewall_management_center	>= 6.2.0, < 6.2.3.14	cpe:2.3:a:cisco:secure_firewall_management_center::::::::
cisco	firepower_threat_defense	>= 6.2.0, < 6.2.2.5	cpe:2.3:a:cisco:firepower_threat_defense::::::::
cisco	firepower_threat_defense	>= 6.2.3, < 6.2.3.7	cpe:2.3:a:cisco:firepower_threat_defense::::::::
cisco	secure_firewall_management_center	>= 6.2.3, < 6.2.3.7	cpe:2.3:a:cisco:secure_firewall_management_center::::::::

References for CVE-2019-12700

URL	Tags
https://tools.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-20191002-ftd-fpmc-dos	Vendor Advisory

URL

CVE-2019-12700 | Cisco FTD, FMC, and FXOS Software Pluggable Authentication Module Denial of Service Vulnerability

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2019-12700

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2019-12700

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2019-12700

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2019-12700

References for CVE-2019-12700