CVE-2020-3433
Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client
Published 17 Aug 2020 · updated 12 Aug 2026 · Analyzed
Exploited in the wild
CISA added this to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on 24 Oct 2022, with a remediation deadline of 14 Nov 2022 for US federal agencies. It has been used in ransomware campaigns.
Required action: Apply updates per vendor instructions.
Description
A 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.
References
- packetstormsecurity.com/files/159420/Cisco-AnyConnect-Privilege-Escalation.html · Exploit, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
- tools.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-anyconnect-dll-F26WwJW · Vendor Advisory
- www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2020-3433 · US Government Resource