# CVE-2019-15992: Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance Software and Firepower Threat Defense Software Remote Code Execution Vulnerability

> Authenticated attackers can exploit a heap overflow in the Lua interpreter to execute arbitrary code with root privileges on Cisco ASA and FTD devices.

- **Severity:** High 7.2 (`CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** An administrator
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 23 Sep 2020
- **Updated:** 13 Nov 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-pfrh-m7rq-gq4c

## What is CVE-2019-15992?

CVE-2019-15992 is a high-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance, published on 23 Sep 2020. An attacker needs administrator access to exploit it, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

A vulnerability in the implementation of the Lua interpreter integrated in Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software and Cisco Firepower Threat Defense (FTD) Software could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to execute arbitrary code with root privileges on the underlying Linux operating system of an affected device. The vulnerability is due to insufficient restrictions on the allowed Lua function calls within the context of user-supplied Lua scripts. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to trigger a heap overflow condition and execute arbitrary code with root privileges on the underlying Linux operating system of an affected device.

Weakness: CWE-787 (Out-of-bounds Write), CWE-119 (Improper Restriction of Operations within the Bounds of a Memory Buffer)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2019-15992?

It affects 4 products.


Products: Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance, Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance Software, Cisco Secure Firewall Management Center, Cisco Secure Firewall Threat Defense.

## How do I fix CVE-2019-15992?

No fix has been published for CVE-2019-15992 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2019-15992 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2019-15992 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance

- [CVE-2021-1573](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-1573/): Denial of service in Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance Software (high 8.6)
- [CVE-2021-34793](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-34793/): Denial of service in Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software (high 8.6)
- [CVE-2021-40117](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-40117/): Denial of service in Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software (high 8.6)
- [CVE-2021-40118](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-40118/): Denial of service in Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software (high 8.6)
- [CVE-2020-3304](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-3304/): Denial of service in Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software (high 8.6)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2019-15992 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2019-15992 is a high-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance, published on 23 Sep 2020. An attacker needs administrator access to exploit it, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2019-15992 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance. 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-2019-15992/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-15992/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2019-15992
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2019-15992
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2019-15992

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-15992/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.