Hackers Target New Cisco Firewall Flaws—CISA Orders Urgent Patching

Hackers Target New Cisco Firewall Flaws—CISA Orders Urgent Patching

CISA issued an emergency directive after state-backed actors began exploiting zero-day vulnerabilities in Cisco Adaptive Security Appliances (ASA). Cisco, working with U.S. agencies, confirmed attacks allowing malware implantation, command execution, and potential data exfiltration. ArcaneDoor is assessed as the threat actor; at least 10 orgs worldwide—including multiple U.S. federal agencies—were impacted.

🔍 What’s happening

• Three zero-days disclosed; two actively exploited.
• Evidence of compromises on federal devices; some intrusions used modified commands for persistence (surviving reboots/upgrades).
• CISA Directive:
  • Disconnect any compromised devices immediately and report.
  • Agencies with affected devices must report asset locations/usage by Oct 2.

📌 Why it matters

These devices sit at the edge of critical networks. Successful exploitation can provide deep, stealthy access for espionage or staging further attacks against government and critical infrastructure.

⚠️ What to do now (enterprises & agencies)

1. Patch/Upgrade ASA to Cisco’s fixed versions immediately.
2. Threat hunt for indicators: unusual config changes, unknown users/commands, unexpected outbound traffic.
3. Check persistence: review boot variables/startup configs; validate integrity after upgrades.
4. Network segmentation & Egress controls to limit exfil paths.
5. Rotate credentials & tokens used by or passing through the device.
6. Enable detailed logging and forward to your SIEM; monitor for new anomalies.
7. Have an isolation plan for suspected edge devices and prepare backups of clean configurations.

If your organization needs help prioritizing patches, hunting for persistence, or validating edge security, we can assist.