CVE-2018-15465 Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance Software Privilege Escalation Vulnerability
Unprivileged remote attackers can bypass authorization checks in the web interface to read configurations or replace software images on Cisco ASA devices.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Any signed-in user
- Attackable
- Over the internet
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- None listed
What is CVE-2018-15465?
CVE-2018-15465 is a high-severity missing authorization vulnerability in Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance Software, published on 24 Dec 2018. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.
Official description
A vulnerability in the authorization subsystem of Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software could allow an authenticated, but unprivileged (levels 0 and 1), remote attacker to perform privileged actions by using the web management interface. The vulnerability is due to improper validation of user privileges when using the web management interface. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending specific HTTP requests via HTTPS to an affected device as an unprivileged user. An exploit could allow the attacker to retrieve files (including the running configuration) from the device or to upload and replace software images on the device.
Which versions are affected by CVE-2018-15465?
It affects 1 product.
Products include Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance Software.
How do I fix CVE-2018-15465?
No fix has been published for CVE-2018-15465 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.
Upgrade, and check permissions on every request on the server, not only in the interface. More about Missing authorization.
Is CVE-2018-15465 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2018-15465 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Other vulnerabilities in Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance Software
- CVE-2025-20333 Cisco Secure Firewall Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) and Secure Firewall Threat Defense (FTD) Buffer Overflow
- CVE-2016-6366 Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) SNMP Buffer Overflow
- CVE-2026-20349 Cisco Secure Firewall Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) and Secure Firewall Threat Defense (FTD) Heap Inspection
- CVE-2024-20353 Cisco ASA and FTD Denial of Service
- CVE-2016-6367 Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) CLI Remote Code Execution
All Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance Software vulnerabilities
Sources
Also known as GHSA-wccp-c983-j22q.