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

> An authenticated remote attacker can cause a denial of service by exhausting system resources through multiple simultaneous SSH logins on Cisco Firepower devices.

- **Severity:** High 7.7 (`CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 2 Oct 2019
- **Updated:** 21 Nov 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-5gfq-ghv5-4j5q

## What is CVE-2019-12700?

CVE-2019-12700 is a high-severity denial of service vulnerability in Cisco Firepower Extensible Operating System, published on 2 Oct 2019. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

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.

Weakness: CWE-400 (Uncontrolled Resource Consumption)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2019-12700?

It affects 4 products.


Products: Cisco Firepower 9300 Firmware, Cisco Firepower Extensible Operating System, Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center, Cisco Secure Firewall Threat Defense.

## How do I fix CVE-2019-12700?

No fix has been published for CVE-2019-12700 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2019-12700 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2019-12700 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Cisco Firepower Extensible Operating System

- [CVE-2019-12699](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-12699/): Cisco FXOS Software and Firepower Threat Defense Software Command Injection Vulnerabilities (high 8.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2019-12700 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2019-12700 is a high-severity denial of service vulnerability in Cisco Firepower Extensible Operating System, published on 2 Oct 2019. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2019-12700 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Cisco Firepower Extensible Operating System. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-12700/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-12700/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2019-12700
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2019-12700
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2019-12700

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-12700/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.