Update: Implementation Guidance for Emergency Directive on Cisco ASA and Firepower Device Vulnerabilities

CISA has released Emergency Cisco Directive 25-03 Implementation Guidance to assist federal agencies in addressing critical vulnerabilities in Cisco Adaptive Security Appliances (ASA) and Firepower devices. Emergency Directive 25-03: Identify and Mitigate Potential Compromise of Cisco Devices, issued on Sept. 25, identified known vulnerabilities CVE-2025-20333 and CVE-2025-20362, and mandated immediate action to mitigate risks. Threat actors continue to target these devices, posing significant risk to all organizations. 

The implementation guidance provides information on the minimum software versions that address these vulnerabilities and direct federal agencies to conduct corrective patching measures on devices that are not compliant with these requirements. CISA is aware of multiple organizations that believed they had applied the necessary updates but had not in fact updated to the minimum software version. CISA recommends all organizations verify the correct updates are applied. For agencies with ASA or Firepower devices not yet updated to the necessary software versions or devices that were updated after September 26, 2025, CISA recommends additional actions to mitigate against ongoing and new threat activity. CISA urges all agencies with ASAs and Firepower devices to follow this guidance. 

See Emergency Directive 25-03 Implementation Guidance and Temporary Risk Mitigation Guidance for Agencies in the Process of ED 25-03 Compliance for detailed recommendations and CISA’s RayDetect scanner to examine ASA core dumps for evidence of RayInitiator compromise.