CVE-2021-40125
Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance Software and Firepower Threat Defense Software IKEv2 Site-to-Site VPN Denial of Service Vulnerability
A vulnerability in the Internet Key Exchange Version 2 (IKEv2) implementation of Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software and Cisco Firepower Threat Defense (FTD) Software could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to trigger a denial of service (DoS) condition on an affected device. This vulnerability is due to improper control of a resource. An attacker with the ability to spoof a trusted IKEv2 site-to-site VPN peer and in possession of valid IKEv2 credentials for that peer could exploit this vulnerability by sending malformed, authenticated IKEv2 messages to an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to trigger a reload of the device.
Attack profile
How easy it is to exploit
- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- High
- Privileges needed
- Low
- User interaction
- None
What an attacker can affect
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
Exploit likelihood
What each source reports
CVE List Score used
5.3
Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance Software and Firepower Threat Defense Software IKEv2 Site-to-Site VPN Denial of Service Vulnerability
A vulnerability in the Internet Key Exchange Version 2 (IKEv2) implementation of Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software and Cisco Firepower Threat Defense (FTD) Software could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to trigger a denial of service (DoS) condition on an affected device. This vulnerability is due to improper control of a resource. An attacker with the ability to spoof a trusted IKEv2 site-to-site VPN peer and in possession of valid IKEv2 credentials for that peer could exploit this vulnerability by sending malformed, authenticated IKEv2 messages to an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to trigger a reload of the device.
- Record
CVE-2021-40125- CVSS 3.1
- 5.3 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-416
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2021-27312
5.3
A vulnerability in the Internet Key Exchange Version 2 (IKEv2) implementation of Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software and Cisco Firepower Threat Defense (FTD) Software could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to trigger a denial of service (DoS) condition on an affected device. This vulnerability is due to improper control of a resource. An attacker with the ability to spoof a trusted IKEv2 site-to-site VPN peer and in possession of valid IKEv2 credentials for that peer could exploit this vulnerability by sending malformed, authenticated IKEv2 messages to an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to trigger a reload of the device.
- Record
EUVD-2021-27312- CVSS 3.1
- 5.3 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H - Updated
- 2026-11-03
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-cg2g-27wj-x8x6
6.5
A vulnerability in the Internet Key Exchange Version 2 (IKEv2) implementation of Cisco Adaptive...
A vulnerability in the Internet Key Exchange Version 2 (IKEv2) implementation of Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software and Cisco Firepower Threat Defense (FTD) Software could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to trigger a denial of service (DoS) condition on an affected device. This vulnerability is due to improper control of a resource. An attacker with the ability to spoof a trusted IKEv2 site-to-site VPN peer and in possession of valid IKEv2 credentials for that peer could exploit this vulnerability by sending malformed, authenticated IKEv2 messages to an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to trigger a reload of the device.
- Record
GHSA-cg2g-27wj-x8x6- CVSS 3.1
- 6.5 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H - Weakness
- CWE-400, CWE-416
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
NVD
5.3
A vulnerability in the Internet Key Exchange Version 2 (IKEv2) implementation of Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software and Cisco Firepower Threat Defense (FTD) Software could allow an authenticated, remote attacker to trigger a denial of service (DoS) condition on an affected device. This vulnerability is due to improper control of a resource. An attacker with the ability to spoof a trusted IKEv2 site-to-site VPN peer and in possession of valid IKEv2 credentials for that peer could exploit this vulnerability by sending malformed, authenticated IKEv2 messages to an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to trigger a reload of the device.
- Record
CVE-2021-40125- CVSS 3.1
- 5.3 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H - CVSS 3.1
- 6.5 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H - CVSS 2.0
- 6.3 Medium
AV:N/AC:M/Au:S/C:N/I:N/A:C - Weakness
- CWE-416, CWE-400
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
Affected products
- cisco adaptive security appliance software
- cisco adaptive security appliance (asa) software
- cisco asa 5505 firmware
- cisco asa 5512-x firmware
- cisco asa 5515-x firmware
- cisco asa 5525-x firmware
- cisco asa 5545-x firmware
- cisco asa 5555-x firmware
- cisco asa 5580 firmware
- cisco asa 5585-x firmware
- cisco secure firewall threat defense
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-2021-40125 is a medium vulnerability (CVSS 5.3) in Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance Software, published October 27, 2021. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 1.02%, the 63rd percentile. No source names a fixed version.