Anyconnect Secure Mobility ClientApplication · Cisco
CVE-2015-0663
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedCisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client 4.0(.00051) and earlier does not properly implement access control for IPC messages, which allows local users to write to arbitrary files via crafted messages, aka Bug ID CSCus79392.
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · high confidenceCisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client 4.0(.00051) and earlier contains improper access control for Inter-Process Communication (IPC) messages, allowing an authenticated local user to send crafted IPC messages and write to arbitrary files on the system. This represents a local privilege escalation vulnerability.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE data
Anyconnect Secure Mobility ClientApplication
<= 4.0\(.00051\)CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Authentication
- None
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- Complete
- Availability
- Complete
AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:C/A:C
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Verify Cisco AnyConnect is installedCheck the system for the presence of Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client software - this may be visible in Add/Remove Programs on Windows, or via package management tools on other operating systemsAffected if The software is present on the system
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Determine the installed version of Cisco AnyConnectLocate the AnyConnect client executable or its installation metadata and retrieve the version information - on Windows this is often accessible through file properties of the main executable or via the Windows registry uninstall entryAffected if The installed version is 4.0(.00051) or earlier (any version up to and including 4.0.00051)
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Confirm local system access existsVerify that the system permits local user authentication - the vulnerability requires an authenticated local user to send crafted IPC messages, so confirm local user accounts exist and can log inAffected if Local user authentication is enabled and untrusted or low-privilege local users have access to the system
A system is affected if Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client version 4.0(.00051) or earlier is installed and local user authentication is permitted, allowing a local attacker to exploit the IPC access control flaw for privilege escalation.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
From vendor dataUpgrade Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client to a version newer than 4.0(.00051) that includes the patched access control for IPC messages. Restrict local system access to trusted, privileged users until the patch is applied.
Fix this in Anyconnect Secure Mobility Client
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,984.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2015-0663 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2015-0663 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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