# CVE-2026-20008: Code injection in Cisco Secure Firewall Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software

> Authenticated local attackers with Administrator credentials can inject Lua code via CLI commands to execute arbitrary code as root on Cisco ASA and FTD devices.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.0 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** An administrator
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 4 Mar 2026
- **Updated:** 5 Mar 2026
- **Also known as:** GHSA-42hx-qv2c-ff49

## What is CVE-2026-20008?

CVE-2026-20008 is a medium-severity code injection vulnerability in Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance Software, published on 4 Mar 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

A vulnerability in a small subset of CLI commands that are used on Cisco Secure Firewall Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software and Cisco Secure Firewall Threat Defense (FTD) Software could allow an authenticated, local attacker to craft Lua code that could be used on the underlying operating system as root.

This vulnerability exists because user-provided input is not properly sanitized. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by crafting valid Lua code and submitting it as a malicious parameter for a CLI command. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to inject Lua code, which could lead to arbitrary code execution as the root user. To exploit this vulnerability, an attacker must have valid Administrator credentials.

Weakness: CWE-78 (Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an OS Command)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-20008?

It affects 2 products.


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

## How do I fix CVE-2026-20008?

No fix has been published for CVE-2026-20008 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2026-20008 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-20008 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-2026-20008 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-20008 is a medium-severity code injection vulnerability in Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance Software, published on 4 Mar 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-20008 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-2026-20008/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-20008/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-20008
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-20008
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-20008

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-20008/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.