Cisco ASA FTD web exploitation attempt matching CVE-2020-3452 with HTTP 200

Detects HTTP 200 requests targeting Cisco ASA/FTD web parameters associated with CVE-2020-3452 exploit behavior.

FreeReviewedSigma · High · v5

Category: webserver
Author: Florian Roth (Nextron Systems) (SigmaHQ), DRL 1.1
Published: 2021-01-07
Updated: 2026-07-31

ATT&CK techniques

Initial Access

Recon
Resource Dev
Initial Access
- T1190Exploit Public-Facing Application
Execution
Persistence
Priv Esc
Defense Evasion
Cred Access
Discovery
Lateral Movement
Collection
C2
Exfiltration
Impact

What it detects

This rule identifies HTTP requests to Cisco ASA FTD web endpoints that contain specific query parameters associated with CVE-2020-3452 exploitation attempts and require an HTTP response status code of 200. Successful (200) responses indicate the target application processed the request, which can be consistent with exploitation activity rather than failed probing. It relies on webserver telemetry that includes the request URI query string and the HTTP status code.

Reporting behind it

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Cisco ASA FTD web exploitation attempt matching CVE-2020-3452 with HTTP 200

Pivot detection · T1190 · 9 related

Changelog

v5
Candidate ingested via manual entry.2026-07-31
v4
Candidate ingested via manual entry.2026-07-31
v3
Candidate ingested via manual entry.2026-07-31
v2
Candidate ingested via manual entry.2026-07-31
v1
No changelog recorded for this version.2026-07-30

Detection content is published as a reviewed draft. Tune thresholds and exclusions against your own telemetry before enabling this rule for alerting.

cisco-asa-ftd-web-exploitation-of-cve-2020-3452-http-200-aba47adc

title: Cisco ASA FTD web exploitation attempt matching CVE-2020-3452 with HTTP 200
id: e2d9a0c6-2ba6-4f3c-a69a-1c3d6f114e20
status: test
description: This rule identifies HTTP requests to Cisco ASA FTD web endpoints that contain specific query parameters associated with CVE-2020-3452 exploitation attempts and require an HTTP response status code of 200. Successful (200) responses indicate the target application processed the request, which can be consistent with exploitation activity rather than failed probing. It relies on webserver telemetry that includes the request URI query string and the HTTP status code.
references:
  - https://twitter.com/aboul3la/status/1286012324722155525
  - https://github.com/darklotuskdb/CISCO-CVE-2020-3452-Scanner-Exploiter
  - https://github.com/SigmaHQ/sigma/blob/master/rules-emerging-threats/2020/Exploits/CVE-2020-3452/web_cve_2020_3452_cisco_asa_ftd.yml
author: Florian Roth (Nextron Systems), Huntrule Team
date: 2021-01-07
modified: 2023-01-02
tags:
  - attack.t1190
  - attack.initial-access
  - cve.2020-3452
  - detection.emerging-threats
logsource:
  category: webserver
detection:
  selection_endpoint:
    cs-uri-query|contains:
      - +CSCOT+/translation-table
      - +CSCOT+/oem-customization
  selection_path_select:
    cs-uri-query|contains:
      - "&textdomain=/"
      - "&textdomain=%"
      - "&name=/"
      - "&name=%"
  select_status_code:
    sc-status: 200
  condition: selection_endpoint and selection_path_select and select_status_code
falsepositives:
  - Unknown
level: high
license: DRL-1.1
related:
  - id: aba47adc-4847-4970-95c1-61dce62a8b29
    type: derived

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