---
id: CVE-2018-15383
title: >-
  A vulnerability in the cryptographic hardware accelerator driver of Cisco
  Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software and Cisco Firepower Threat Defense
  (FTD) Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to cause an
  affected d…
summary: >-
  A vulnerability in the cryptographic hardware accelerator driver of Cisco
  Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software and Cisco Firepower Threat Defense
  (FTD) Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to cause an
  affected d…
severity: high
cvss: 7.5
cvssVector: 'CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H'
cwe:
  - CWE-400
  - CWE-770
vendor: cisco
product: firepower_threat_defense
affected:
  - firepower_threat_defense = 6.0
  - secure_firewall_threat_defense = 6.0.1
  - secure_firewall_threat_defense = 6.1.0
  - secure_firewall_threat_defense = 6.2.0
  - secure_firewall_threat_defense = 6.2.2
  - secure_firewall_threat_defense = 6.2.3
  - adaptive_security_appliance_software = 9.3
  - adaptive_security_appliance_software = 9.4
  - adaptive_security_appliance_software = 9.5
  - adaptive_security_appliance_software = 9.6
  - adaptive_security_appliance_software = 9.6(43)
  - adaptive_security_appliance_software = 9.7
  - adaptive_security_appliance_software = 9.8
  - adaptive_security_appliance_software = 9.9
  - adaptive_security_appliance_software = 9.9(28)
published: '2018-10-05'
updated: '2026-08-11'
source: NVD
sourceUrl: 'https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2018-15383'
references:
  - url: 'http://www.securitytracker.com/id/1041787'
    label: psirt@cisco.com
  - url: >-
      https://tools.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-20181003-asa-dma-dos
    label: psirt@cisco.com
  - url: 'http://www.securitytracker.com/id/1041787'
    label: af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108
  - url: >-
      https://tools.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-20181003-asa-dma-dos
    label: af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108
tags:
  - nvd
epss: 0.02492
epssPercentile: 0.83994
ingestedAt: '2026-08-11T19:48:25.843Z'
---

## Overview

A vulnerability in the cryptographic hardware accelerator driver of Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) Software and Cisco Firepower Threat Defense (FTD) Software could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to cause an affected device to reload, resulting in a temporary denial of service (DoS) condition. The vulnerability exists because the affected devices have a limited amount of Direct Memory Access (DMA) memory and the affected software improperly handles resources in low-memory conditions. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a sustained, high rate of malicious traffic to an affected device to exhaust memory on the device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to exhaust DMA memory on the affected device, which could cause the device to reload and result in a temporary DoS condition.

## Affected

- `firepower_threat_defense = 6.0`
- `secure_firewall_threat_defense = 6.0.1`
- `secure_firewall_threat_defense = 6.1.0`
- `secure_firewall_threat_defense = 6.2.0`
- `secure_firewall_threat_defense = 6.2.2`
- `secure_firewall_threat_defense = 6.2.3`
- `adaptive_security_appliance_software = 9.3`
- `adaptive_security_appliance_software = 9.4`
- `adaptive_security_appliance_software = 9.5`
- `adaptive_security_appliance_software = 9.6`
- `adaptive_security_appliance_software = 9.6(43)`
- `adaptive_security_appliance_software = 9.7`
- `adaptive_security_appliance_software = 9.8`
- `adaptive_security_appliance_software = 9.9`
- `adaptive_security_appliance_software = 9.9(28)`

## Remediation

Refer to the linked advisories for vendor-supplied fixes and affected version ranges.