{"id":"CVE-2020-3433","kind":"vulnerability","aliases":["CVE-2020-3433"],"related":[],"title":"A vulnerability in the interprocess communication (IPC) channel of Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client for…","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.","summary":"Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client for Windows loads resources at run time without validating them properly in its interprocess communication channel. An attacker with valid local credentials on a Windows machine can run code as SYSTEM.","severity":"high","cvss":7.8,"epss":null,"exploited":true,"exploited_at":"2022-10-24T00:00:00+00:00","products":[{"name":"Cisco AnyConnect Secure","fixed":[],"affected":"","ecosystem":"vendor"},{"name":"cisco anyconnect secure mobility client","fixed":["4.9.00086"],"affected":"< 4.9.00086","ecosystem":"vendor"}],"ecosystems":["vendor"],"tags":["cisco-anyconnect","endpoints","exploited","infrastructure","ransomware","windows"],"not_affected_if":["no-anyconnect-client","non-windows"],"how_to_check":null,"fix":"Apply the Cisco updates per vendor instructions (CISA required action); specific fixed versions are unknown from the sources.","status":"open","published_at":"2020-08-17T18:15:12+00:00","first_seen_at":"2026-10-23T19:11:52+00:00","triaged_at":"2026-10-23T21:10:26+00:00","updated_at":"2026-10-23T22:29:04+00:00","category":"infrastructure","confidence":0.8,"triage":{"at":"2026-10-23T21:10:26Z","model":"claude-haiku-5-5","output":{"fix":"Apply the Cisco updates per vendor instructions (CISA required action); specific fixed versions are unknown from the sources.","reach":"local","impact":"high","summary":"Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client for Windows loads resources at run time without validating them properly in its interprocess communication channel. An attacker with valid local credentials on a Windows machine can run code as SYSTEM.","category":"infrastructure","who_cares":["windows","cisco-anyconnect","endpoints"],"confidence":0.8,"needs_auth":"yes","worst_case":"Attacker with valid credentials runs code as SYSTEM on Windows.","analyst_note":"Find the fixed Cisco AnyConnect versions and a local check for the installed client version in the Cisco security advisory for CVE-2020-3433.","how_to_check":"unknown","needs_analyst":true,"not_affected_if":["no-anyconnect-client","non-windows"],"user_interaction":"no","needs_special_setup":"unknown","severity_if_unknown":"high"},"cost_usd":0.000469,"input_tokens":2863,"output_tokens":365,"severity_before":"unknown"},"analyst_status":null,"analyst_note":null,"search":"'-2020':16A,19A '-3433':17A,20A 'affect':164C 'allow':90C,155C 'anyconnect':11A,22A,25A,31B,38B,83C,149C 'applic':131C 'arbitrari':160C 'attack':59B,94C,100C,106C,136C,157C,174C 'authent':92C 'channel':8A,57B,80C 'cisco':10A,21A,24A,30B,37B,82C 'cisco-anyconnect':29B 'client':14A,28A,41B,86C 'code':70B,161C 'communic':6A,56B,78C 'could':89C,137C,154C 'craft':144C 'credenti':63B,112C,180C 'cve':15A,18A 'dll':98C 'due':120C 'endpoint':32B 'execut':159C 'exploit':33B,102C,138C,153C,170C 'hijack':99C 'infrastructur':34B 'insuffici':122C 'interprocess':5A,55B,77C 'ipc':7A,79C,145C 'load':44B,128C 'local':62B,93C 'machin':67B,165C 'messag':146C 'mobil':13A,40B,85C 'mobility':27A 'need':108C,176C 'perform':96C 'privileg':168C 'process':150C 'proper':52B 'ransomwar':35B 'resourc':45B,125C 'run':47B,69B,133C 'secur':12A,39B,84C 'secure':23A,26A 'send':142C 'success':152C 'system':72B,116C,167C,184C 'time':48B,134C 'valid':50B,61B,111C,123C,179C 'vulner':2A,74C,104C,118C,140C,172C 'window':36B,43B,66B,88C,115C,183C 'without':49B 'would':107C,175C","nicknames":[],"mitigations":[],"who_affected":null,"tier":null,"verified":{},"analyst_revisit_at":null,"first_public_at":"2020-08-17T18:15:12+00:00","kev":{"dateAdded":"2022-10-24","dueDate":"2022-11-14","requiredAction":"Apply updates per vendor instructions.","knownRansomwareCampaignUse":"Known"},"cvss_vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H","cvss_by":"psirt@cisco.com","poc_count":0,"sources":[{"source":"kev","external_id":"CVE-2020-3433","url":"https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?search_api_fulltext=CVE-2020-3433","severity":null,"published_at":"2022-10-24T00:00:00+00:00","modified_at":null,"first_seen_at":"2026-10-23T19:11:52+00:00","fetched_at":"2026-10-25T20:35:35+00:00","note":null},{"source":"nvd","external_id":"CVE-2020-3433","url":"https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-3433","severity":null,"published_at":"2020-08-17T18:15:12+00:00","modified_at":"2026-08-12T05:17:30+00:00","first_seen_at":"2026-10-23T22:29:04+00:00","fetched_at":"2026-10-23T22:29:04+00:00","note":null}],"documents":[],"notice":"Free to read at a human pace. An API with keys and an MCP server are in preparation; early access: hello@infrastack.ai"}