Anyconnect Secure Mobility ClientApplication · Cisco
CVE-2020-3433
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 interprocess communication (IPC) channel of Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client for Windows could allow an authenticated, local attacker to perform a DLL hijacking attack. To exploit this vulnerability, the attacker would need to have valid credentials on the Windows system. The vulnerability is due to insufficient validation of resources that are loaded by the application at run time. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a crafted IPC message to the AnyConnect process. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary code on the affected machine with SYSTEM privileges. To exploit this vulnerability, the attacker would need to have 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 · high confidenceA DLL hijacking vulnerability exists in the IPC channel of Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client for Windows due to insufficient validation of resources loaded at runtime. An authenticated local attacker can send a crafted IPC message to the AnyConnect process, causing it to load a malicious DLL and execute arbitrary code with SYSTEM privileges.
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
< 4.9.00086CVSS 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:3.1/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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Identify AnyConnect installationLocate Cisco AnyConnect on the system by checking Program Files or Program Files (x86) directories for an AnyConnect folder, or query installed programs via Windows registry (HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall)Affected if AnyConnect is installed and the version cannot be determined or is less than 4.9.00086
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Determine installed versionOpen the AnyConnect folder and locate the version information file (such as about.xml, or right-click the main AnyConnect executable and view Properties > Details), or use 'wmic product get name,version' if availableAffected if The displayed version number is lower than 4.9.00086
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Confirm vulnerable component existsCheck if the AnyConnect IPC service (typically named 'Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Service' or similar) is present on the system by viewing Services (services.msc) or running 'sc query' commandAffected if The IPC service exists and the AnyConnect version is below 4.9.00086
The system is affected if Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client is installed with any version lower than 4.9.00086, as that version range contains the DLL hijacking vulnerability in the IPC channel.
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 · scoped4.9.00086
Apply the vendor patch from Cisco for CVE-2020-3433. Until patched, restrict local access to trusted administrators and monitor for suspicious DLL loading behavior in AnyConnect processes.
Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client version 4.9.00086 or later
- Verify the current installed version of Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client on the Windows system
- Download Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client version 4.9.00086 or later from the official Cisco software download page
- Ensure you have valid credentials and appropriate permissions to perform the software update
- Apply the upgrade to all affected Windows systems running AnyConnect versions prior to 4.9.00086
- Verify the new version is correctly installed after the upgrade process completes
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
- Consultation6.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing8.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $6,144.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-3433 — 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-2020-3433 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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