CVE-2026-20016

A vulnerability in the Cisco FXOS Software CLI feature for Cisco Secure Firewall ASA Software and Secure FTD Software could allow an authenticated, local attacker to execute arbitrary commands on the underlying operating system with root-level privileges. To exploit this vulnerability, the attacker must have valid administrative credentials on an affected device. This vulnerability is due to insufficient input validation of user-supplied command arguments. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by submitting crafted input for specific CLI commands. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute commands on the underlying operating system with root-level privileges.

Published: 2026-03-04 Last update: 2026-06-17 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Analyzed，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2026-20016 is rated Low Risk (32.9/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.33%). Monitor for updates and reassess as exploit intelligence or EPSS changes.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2026-20016

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-06-23 0.18% 0.33% +0.15%
2 2026-06-15 0.01% 0.18% +0.18%
3 2026-03-05 — 0.01% —

Full EPSS history (3 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2026-20016

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
6.0 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
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:H)
They need powerful rights—admin, root, or similar—before this pays off.
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:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.
 0.8 5.2 [email protected]
6.7 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
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:H)
They need powerful rights—admin, root, or similar—before this pays off.
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:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 0.8 5.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2026-20016

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2026-20016

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
cisco adaptive_security_appliance_software >= 9.12.1, < 9.16.4.85 cpe:2.3:o:cisco:adaptive_security_appliance_software:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco adaptive_security_appliance_software >= 9.17.1, < 9.18.4.66 cpe:2.3:o:cisco:adaptive_security_appliance_software:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco adaptive_security_appliance_software >= 9.19.1, < 9.20.4 cpe:2.3:o:cisco:adaptive_security_appliance_software:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco adaptive_security_appliance_software >= 9.22.1.1, < 9.22.2.4 cpe:2.3:o:cisco:adaptive_security_appliance_software:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco adaptive_security_appliance_software >= 9.23.1, < 9.23.1.7 cpe:2.3:o:cisco:adaptive_security_appliance_software:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco firepower_threat_defense_software >= 6.4.0, < 7.0.9 cpe:2.3:a:cisco:firepower_threat_defense_software:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco firepower_threat_defense_software >= 7.1.0, < 7.2.11 cpe:2.3:a:cisco:firepower_threat_defense_software:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco firepower_threat_defense_software >= 7.3.0, < 7.4.3 cpe:2.3:a:cisco:firepower_threat_defense_software:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco firepower_threat_defense_software >= 7.6.0, < 7.6.4 cpe:2.3:a:cisco:firepower_threat_defense_software:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cisco firepower_threat_defense_software >= 7.7.0, < 7.7.11 cpe:2.3:a:cisco:firepower_threat_defense_software:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2026-20016

cvelogic Threat Intelligence