# CVE-2022-20742: Weak cryptography in Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software

> A man-in-the-middle attacker can decrypt and modify IPsec IKEv2 VPN traffic due to improper GCM cipher implementation in Cisco ASA and FTD software.

- **Severity:** High 7.4 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 3 May 2022
- **Updated:** 6 Nov 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-m7xj-7gmx-xmr5

## What is CVE-2022-20742?

CVE-2022-20742 is a high-severity vulnerability in Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance Software, published on 3 May 2022. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

A vulnerability in an IPsec VPN library of Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software and Cisco Firepower Threat Defense (FTD) Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to read or modify data within an IPsec IKEv2 VPN tunnel. This vulnerability is due to an improper implementation of Galois/Counter Mode (GCM) ciphers. An attacker in a man-in-the-middle position could exploit this vulnerability by intercepting a sufficient number of encrypted messages across an affected IPsec IKEv2 VPN tunnel and then using cryptanalytic techniques to break the encryption. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to decrypt, read, modify, and re-encrypt data that is transmitted across an affected IPsec IKEv2 VPN tunnel.

Weakness: CWE-325 (Missing Cryptographic Step)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-20742?

It affects 2 products.


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

## How do I fix CVE-2022-20742?

No fix has been published for CVE-2022-20742 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2022-20742 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-20742 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance Software

- [CVE-2025-20333](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-20333/): Cisco Secure Firewall Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) and Secure Firewall Threat Defense (FTD) Buffer Overflow (critical 9.9, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2016-6366](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-6366/): Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) SNMP Buffer Overflow (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2026-20349](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-20349/): Cisco Secure Firewall Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) and Secure Firewall Threat Defense (FTD) Heap Inspection (high 8.6, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2024-20353](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-20353/): Cisco ASA and FTD Denial of Service (high 8.6, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2016-6367](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-6367/): Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) CLI Remote Code Execution (high 7.8, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2022-20742 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2022-20742 is a high-severity vulnerability in Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance Software, published on 3 May 2022. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-20742 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance Software. 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-2022-20742/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-20742/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-20742
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-20742
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2022-20742

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-20742/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.