27 April 2026 - 07:33
Category: IT Fail
Cisco's Persistent Little Firestarter
A federal agency's Cisco gear now hosts malware that survives reboots like a bad case of indigestion. It seems the 'security' in security appliance is more of a suggestion.
Source: Changeflow
The Full Story
Cisco's Adaptive Security Appliances have decided to host a permanent squatter named Firestarter, courtesy of some U.S. federal agency's lack of luck. This particular uninvited guest survives firmware updates and reboots by meddling with the mount list, proving once again that our hardware has more loyalty to attackers than to us. Those hoping for a quick fix will be disappointed to learn that only a full device re-image can evict this root-level nightmare. To keep our own sanity intact, we must patch CVE-2025-20333 and CVE-2025-20362 before our appliances start seeking new management.