CVE-2020-3548: cisco cisco secure email Inefficient Algorithmic Complexity

Vulnerability summary

CVE-2020-3548 is a high (CVSS 7.5) Inefficient Algorithmic Complexity vulnerability in cisco cisco secure email. EPSS estimates a 0.84% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 57.2% of scored vulnerabilities.

Timeline

1. 18-11-2024
   PublishedVulnerability first disclosed.
2. 18-11-2024
   Last modifiedVulnerability information updated.

Description

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.

• CWE-407Inefficient Algorithmic ComplexityAn algorithm in a product has an inefficient worst-case computational complexity that may be detrimental to system performance and can be triggered by an attacker, typically using crafted manipulations that ensure that the worst case is being reached.