Anyconnect Secure Mobility ClientApplication · Cisco
CVE-2016-6369
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 before 4.2.05015 and 4.3.x before 4.3.02039 mishandles pathnames, which allows local users to gain privileges via a crafted INF file, aka Bug ID CSCuz92464.
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 before versions 4.2.05015 and 4.3.02039 contains a pathname handling vulnerability that allows local unprivileged users to gain elevated privileges through a crafted malicious INF file. The client improperly processes file paths, enabling privilege escalation on the local system.
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
= 2.0.0343= 2.1.0148= 2.2.0133= 2.2.0136= 2.2.0140= 2.3.0185= 2.3.0254= 2.3.1003= 2.3.2016= 2.4.0202= 2.4.1012= 2.5.0217CVSS 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
- Privileges
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
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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Locate the Cisco AnyConnect installation directoryCheck standard installation paths: C:\Program Files\Cisco\Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client\ or C:\Program Files (x86)\Cisco\Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client\. Use File Explorer or command 'dir /s /b "C:\Program Files\Cisco" 2>nul' and 'dir /s /b "C:\Program Files (x86)\Cisco" 2>nul'Affected if The Cisco AnyConnect directory exists on the system
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Identify the installed AnyConnect version numberOpen the folder and locate the main executable such as vpnui.exe or anyconnect.exe. Right-click the executable, select Properties, and view the Version tab. Alternatively, run 'wmic product get name,version' or check the registry under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Cisco\Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client for the Version valueAffected if The displayed version matches any of these: 2.0.0343, 2.1.0148, 2.2.0133, 2.2.0136, 2.2.0140, 2.3.0185, 2.3.0254, 2.3.1003, 2.3.2016, 2.4.0202, 2.4.1012, or 2.5.0217
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Confirm the AnyConnect service is presentOpen Services (services.msc) and look for 'Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Service' or run 'sc query' to list services containing 'Cisco'. The vulnerability requires the client to be installed and the service to existAffected if The Cisco AnyConnect service is registered and appears in the services list
A system is affected if Cisco AnyConnect is installed with a version matching 2.0.0343 through 2.5.0217, excluding versions 4.2.05015 and above or 4.3.02039 and above which contain the fix.
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 version 4.2.05015 or later for the 4.2.x branch, or version 4.3.02039 or later for the 4.3.x branch to resolve the pathname handling flaw.
Fix this in Anyconnect Secure Mobility Client
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,088.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2016-6369 — 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-2016-6369 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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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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