Cyber Resilience

CVE-2016-1287

Memory Safety in Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance Software 7.2.1 … 9.5.2

Public PoCHigh EPSSMemory Safety
Published
11 February 2016
Modified
06 May 2026
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3 9.8
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.77 99.5th percentile
Risk Priority 97 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2016-1287 is a critical-severity Improper Restriction of Operations within the Bounds of a Memory Buffer (CWE-119) vulnerability in Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance Software. Its CVSS base score is 9.8 (Critical).

Operationally, ranked in the top 0.5% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

Buffer overflow in the IKEv1 and IKEv2 implementations in Cisco ASA Software before 8.4(7.30), 8.7 before 8.7(1.18), 9.0 before 9.0(4.38), 9.1 before 9.1(7), 9.2 before 9.2(4.5), 9.3 before 9.3(3.7), 9.4 before 9.4(2.4), and 9.5 before 9.5(2.2) on ASA 5500 devices,…

more

ASA 5500-X devices, ASA Services Module for Cisco Catalyst 6500 and Cisco 7600 devices, ASA 1000V devices, Adaptive Security Virtual Appliance (aka ASAv), Firepower 9300 ASA Security Module, and ISA 3000 devices allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service (device reload) via crafted UDP packets, aka Bug IDs CSCux29978 and CSCux42019.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

Likely ATT&CK TechniquesAI

Techniques this vulnerability likely enables, inferred from its description, weakness type, and attributed-actor tradecraft. Confidence is per-technique.

T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Accessconfidence: HIGH
Buffer overflow in IKEv1/IKEv2 over UDP enables remote code execution against a public-facing VPN service.
T1499.004 Application or System Exploitation Impactconfidence: HIGH
Crafted UDP packets can trigger a device reload, constituting an application-level denial of service.
inferred from description + CWE · MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise v19.0

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2014-2120Same product: Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance Software
CVE-2026-20009Same product: Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance Software
CVE-2026-20082Same product: Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance Software
CVE-2026-20024Same product: Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance Software
CVE-2024-20329Same product: Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance Software
CVE-2024-20526Same product: Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance Software
CVE-2017-6738Same vendor: Cisco
CVE-2026-20025Same product: Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance Software
CVE-2026-20021Same product: Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance Software
CVE-2026-20070Same product: Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance Software

Affected Assets

cisco
adaptive security appliance software
7.2.1, 7.2.1.13, 7.2.1.19, 7.2.1.24, 7.2.1.9

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)

Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V17.3.2

Likely Mitigating Controls AI

Per-CVE control mapping for this CVE has not run yet; the list below is derived from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry.

addresses: CWE-119

Ongoing control assessments and code testing (static/dynamic analysis, fuzzing) surface memory buffer restriction failures, which are then remediated before release.

addresses: CWE-119

Managed runtimes used by platform-independent applications (e.g., JVM, CLR) enforce memory safety, preventing most buffer overflows that require direct memory manipulation.

addresses: CWE-119

Memory protections (e.g., W^X, ASLR) make exploitation of buffer-boundary violations far harder to turn into code execution.

addresses: CWE-119

Detects exploitation attempts that produce memory corruption, crashes, or anomalous behavior.

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.PS-06 mostly match
prevents

Secure SDLC practices (bounds checking, safe APIs, reviews) directly prevent this class of flaw.

ID.RA-01 partial match
prevents

Vulnerability scanning and code analysis directly surface buffer-boundary flaws.

ID.RA-08 partial match
prevents

Receiving and triaging vulnerability disclosures commonly includes buffer-related reports.

PR.AT-02 partial match
prevents

Developer training on secure coding reduces introduction of memory-buffer errors.

PR.PS-02 partial match
prevents

Patching replaces vulnerable code containing buffer-boundary defects.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

detects

Security testing in development catches out-of-bounds accesses before release, covering most instances of the weakness.

prevents

Secure development lifecycle mandates memory-safety practices that directly prevent buffer-boundary violations.

prevents

Application security requirements can specify memory-safety rules, but do not prescribe implementation details.

prevents

Secure architecture and engineering principles include memory-safe design patterns that mitigate buffer overflows.

prevents

Secure coding standards explicitly forbid unsafe buffer operations, directly eliminating CWE-119.

References