CVE-2019-1981
Cisco Firepower Threat Defense Software NULL Character Obfuscation Detection Bypass Vulnerability
A vulnerability in the normalization functionality of Cisco Firepower Threat Defense Software, Cisco FirePOWER Services Software for ASA, and Cisco Firepower Management Center Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to bypass filtering protections. The vulnerability is due to insufficient normalization of a text-based payload. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending traffic that contains specifically obfuscated payloads through an affected device. An exploit could allow the attacker to bypass filtering and deliver malicious payloads to protected systems that would otherwise be blocked.
Attack profile
How easy it is to exploit
- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges needed
- None
- User interaction
- None
What an attacker can affect
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- Low
- Availability
- None
Exploit likelihood
What each source reports
CVE List Score used
5.8
Cisco Firepower Threat Defense Software NULL Character Obfuscation Detection Bypass Vulnerability
A vulnerability in the normalization functionality of Cisco Firepower Threat Defense Software, Cisco FirePOWER Services Software for ASA, and Cisco Firepower Management Center Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to bypass filtering protections. The vulnerability is due to insufficient normalization of a text-based payload. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending traffic that contains specifically obfuscated payloads through an affected device. An exploit could allow the attacker to bypass filtering and deliver malicious payloads to protected systems that would otherwise be blocked.
- Record
CVE-2019-1981- CVSS 3.0
- 5.8 Medium
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:L/A:N - Weakness
- CWE-264
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2019-10538
5.8
A vulnerability in the normalization functionality of Cisco Firepower Threat Defense Software, Cisco FirePOWER Services Software for ASA, and Cisco Firepower Management Center Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to bypass filtering protections. The vulnerability is due to insufficient normalization of a text-based payload. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending traffic that contains specifically obfuscated payloads through an affected device. An exploit could allow the attacker to bypass filtering and deliver malicious payloads to protected systems that would otherwise be blocked.
- Record
EUVD-2019-10538- CVSS 3.0
- 5.8 Medium
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:L/A:N - Updated
- 2026-11-03
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-55w6-hghf-mfpw
5.8
A vulnerability in the normalization functionality of Cisco Firepower Threat Defense Software,...
A vulnerability in the normalization functionality of Cisco Firepower Threat Defense Software, Cisco FirePOWER Services Software for ASA, and Cisco Firepower Management Center Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to bypass filtering protections. The vulnerability is due to insufficient normalization of a text-based payload. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending traffic that contains specifically obfuscated payloads through an affected device. An exploit could allow the attacker to bypass filtering and deliver malicious payloads to protected systems that would otherwise be blocked.
- Record
GHSA-55w6-hghf-mfpw- CVSS 3.1
- 5.8 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:L/A:N - Weakness
- CWE-20
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
NVD
5.8
A vulnerability in the normalization functionality of Cisco Firepower Threat Defense Software, Cisco FirePOWER Services Software for ASA, and Cisco Firepower Management Center Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to bypass filtering protections. The vulnerability is due to insufficient normalization of a text-based payload. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending traffic that contains specifically obfuscated payloads through an affected device. An exploit could allow the attacker to bypass filtering and deliver malicious payloads to protected systems that would otherwise be blocked.
- Record
CVE-2019-1981- CVSS 3.1
- 5.8 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:L/A:N - CVSS 3.0
- 5.8 Medium
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:L/A:N - CVSS 2.0
- 5.0 Medium
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:P/A:N - Weakness
- CWE-264, CWE-20
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
Affected products
History
| Recorded | Changed | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| aliases, published | EUVD | |
| first indexed | CVE List, GitHub Advisories, NVD |
Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.
In short
CVE-2019-1981 is a medium vulnerability (CVSS 5.8) in Cisco Firepower Threat Defense Software, published November 5, 2019. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 1.04%, the 64th percentile. No source names a fixed version.