Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client for Windows DLL Hijacking Vulnerability

Summary

CVE	CVE-2020-3433
State	PUBLISHED
Assigner	cisco
Source Priority	CVE Program / NVD first with legacy fallback
Published	2020-08-17 18:15:12 UTC
Updated	2026-08-12 05:17:30 UTC
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.

Risk And Classification

Primary CVSS: v3.1 7.8 HIGH from [email protected]

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

EPSS: 0.100490000 probability, percentile 0.955910000 (date 2026-10-20)

CISA KEV: Listed on 2022-10-24; due 2022-11-14; ransomware use Known

Problem Types: CWE-427 | CWE-427 CWE-427

Version	Source	Type	Score	Severity	Vector
3.1	[email protected]	Primary	7.8	HIGH	`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`
3.1	[email protected]	Secondary	7.8	HIGH	`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`
3.1	CNA	DECLARED	7.8	HIGH	`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`
2.0	[email protected]	Primary	7.2		`AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C`

CVSS v3.1 Breakdown

Attack Vector

Local

Attack Complexity

Low

Privileges Required

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

CVSS v2.0 Breakdown

Access Vector

Local

Access Complexity

Low

Authentication

None

Confidentiality

Complete

Integrity

Complete

Availability

Complete

AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C

CISA Known Exploited Vulnerability

Vendor	Cisco
Product	AnyConnect Secure
Name	Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client for Windows DLL Hijacking Vulnerability
Required Action	Apply updates per vendor instructions.
Notes	https://tools.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-anyconnect-dll-F26WwJW; https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-3433

NVD Known Affected Configurations (CPE 2.3)

Type	Vendor	Product	Version	Update	Edition	Language
Application	Cisco	Anyconnect Secure Mobility Client	All	All	All	All

Vendor Declared Affected Products

Source	Vendor	Product	Version	Platforms
CNA	Cisco	Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client	affected n/a	Not specified

References

Reference	Source	Link	Tags
Cisco AnyConnect Privilege Escalation ≈ Packet Storm	af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108	packetstormsecurity.com	Exploit, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client for Windows DLL Hijacking Vulnerability	af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108	tools.cisco.com	Vendor Advisory
www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog	134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0	www.cisa.gov	US Government Resource
CVE Program record	CVE.ORG	www.cve.org	canonical
NVD vulnerability detail	NVD	nvd.nist.gov	canonical, analysis
CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog	CISA	www.cisa.gov	kev

No vendor comments have been submitted for this CVE.

Additional Advisory Data

Source	Time	Event
ADP	2022-10-24T00:00:00.000Z	CVE-2020-3433 added to CISA KEV

Exploits

CNA: The Cisco Product Security Incident Response Team (PSIRT) is not aware of any public announcements or malicious use of the vulnerability that is described in this advisory.

There are currently no legacy QID mappings associated with this CVE.