Anyconnect Secure Mobility ClientApplication · Cisco
CVE-2020-3153
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 · uneditedA vulnerability in the installer component of Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client for Windows could allow an authenticated local attacker to copy user-supplied files to system level directories with system level privileges. The vulnerability is due to the incorrect handling of directory paths. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by creating a malicious file and copying the file to a system directory. An exploit could allow the attacker to copy malicious files to arbitrary locations with system level privileges. This could include DLL pre-loading, DLL hijacking, and other related attacks. To exploit this vulnerability, the attacker needs valid credentials on the Windows system.
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 · moderate confidenceThis is a local privilege escalation vulnerability in the Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client installer for Windows. The installer incorrectly handles directory paths, allowing an authenticated local attacker to copy user-supplied files (including malicious DLLs) to arbitrary system directories with system-level privileges. The vulnerability can be exploited to perform DLL pre-loading or DLL hijacking attacks by placing crafted files in locations where the system or other applications will load them.
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
< 4.8.02042CVSS 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
- Changed
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:H/A:N
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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Find installed Cisco AnyConnect versionOpen Add/Remove Programs (appwiz.cpl) and locate 'Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client', or check the version property of the executable at C:\Program Files\Cisco\Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client\vpnui.exe by right-clicking and viewing DetailsAffected if The displayed version is lower than 4.8.02042 (for example, 4.7.x or earlier)
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Check registry for installed versionOpen Registry Editor and navigate to HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\ or HKLM\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\ and look for a subkey containing 'Cisco AnyConnect' - read the DisplayVersion valueAffected if The DisplayVersion value is less than 4.8.02042
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Verify installer package on diskSearch for AnyConnect installer files (.exe or .msi) on the system, commonly found in C:\Users\%username%\Downloads\ or C:\Windows\Installer\, right-click the file and view version in DetailsAffected if Any installer package found has a version lower than 4.8.02042
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Confirm vulnerability trigger conditionThe flaw is in the installer component. An attacker with local authenticated access who can execute the AnyConnect installer could exploit this. Check if users have ability to run installers with elevated privilegesAffected if The installed AnyConnect version is below 4.8.02042 AND untrusted local users have the ability to run the installer
You are affected if Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client (installer or installed version) is version 4.8.02042 or lower, allowing a local authenticated attacker to leverage the installer for DLL hijacking.
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.
dbcve · scoped4.8.02042
Apply the vendor patch released by Cisco for this vulnerability. Until patched, limit local user privileges and monitor for unauthorized file modifications in system directories.
Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client 4.8.02042 or later
- 1. Verify the current version of Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client installed on the Windows system by checking 'Add or Remove Programs' or running 'anyconnect --version' from the command line
- 2. Download Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client version 4.8.02042 or later from the official Cisco software download page (requires valid Cisco account)
- 3. Ensure you have valid credentials for the Windows system as required by the vulnerability description
- 4. Uninstall the current vulnerable version of AnyConnect through Windows Control Panel > Programs and Features
- 5. Clear any temporary directories and ensure no malicious DLL files exist in user-accessible locations that could be copied during installation
- 6. Install the new version (4.8.02042 or later) with administrator privileges
- 7. Verify the installed version matches the fixed release by checking the version again post-installation
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
Fix this in Anyconnect Secure Mobility Client
Exploited in the wild — priority engagement
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing4.0 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 $3,072.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-3153 — 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-2020-3153 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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