Threats / Cisco / CVE-2020-3433
CVE-2020-3433
· EUVD no mirror located
· GCVE no mirror located
Verified 2026-09-19
Cisco AnyConnect Secure vulnerability
Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client for Windows contains an IPC channel vulnerability allowing authenticated attackers to execute arbitrary code with SYSTEM privileges through insufficient resource validation.
Verdict
Today item, not a backlog item.
An authenticated local attacker can exploit insufficient validation in the AnyConnect IPC mechanism to load malicious resources and achieve code execution with elevated SYSTEM privileges, enabling full system compromise.
CISA KEV Yes · 2022-10-245Ransomware use Flagged5EPSS 0.10049 (verify live)6Exploit Public PoC7CVSS 7.83CISA SSVC Exploitation: active · Automatable: no · Impact: total4
01
Is it exploitable?
— the evidence, ranked above the scoreExploit available
Public proof-of-concept exploit code is cataloged for this vulnerability.We link the existence of the exploit; we do not host or redistribute payloads.
Reported exploitation
2 independent public reports of in-the-wild exploitation are cataloged.Distinct reporting sources (vendor, incident response, government); open them for the underlying claims.
Exploited in the wild
Listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog (added 2022-10-24), flagged for known ransomware use.
Probability (EPSS)
EPSS 0.10049 — modeled likelihood of exploitation activity.EPSS is a daily-changing model output — open the source for today's value.
Severity / affected
CVSS 7.8 (CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H) · Affected: Cisco, AnyConnect Secure. Confirm exact fixed builds in the vendor advisory.CVSS — CNA-assigned (CVE.org), version 3.1, set at disclosure.
Weakness (CWE)
Mapped to CWE-427 Uncontrolled Search Path.CWE — CNA-assigned (CVE.org); the weakness class drives how the flaw is exploited.
CISA SSVC (triage disposition)
Exploitation: active · Automatable: no · Technical Impact: totalCISA's own stakeholder-specific triage inputs, published in the CVE record (CISA Coordinator role). NOTE: this is CISA's three decision points; the final Act/Attend/Track decision also requires a Mission & Well-being input not published here, so no overall decision is asserted.
Currency of the record
CISA added this to its KEV catalog 798 days after the CVE record was published.KEV lag = CISA-KEV dateAdded − CVE.org datePublished; a floor on how long the known-exploited flaw sat in the public record before the federal catalog listed it. Severity/weakness here is CNA- or CISA-assigned (current at disclosure), independent of NVD's analysis backlog.
Public exploit available
Public exploit tooling is catalogued for this CVE (a functional/weaponized public exploit). Catalog entries: Metasploit module. We link the catalog page(s) only — no payload or code is hosted or restated here.Link, never host — the catalog page is the source; basicsecurity.net does not redistribute payloads.
02
Who’s exploiting it?
— attribution turns risk into urgencyAttribution not established
No confirmed (advisory-backed) threat-actor attribution is established for this record. Absence of a named actor is not absence of compromise — see Coverage & confidence.
03
Why it matters
— the attack path, told twice: adversary, then board1
Front door — unauthenticated access narrative 1
Attacker
I obtain valid Windows credentials for a target user or machine.
Business
Credential compromise or insider access creates initial attack surface.
2
Keys to the kingdom — privilege/identity takeover narrative 2
Attacker
I craft a malicious resource and place it where the AnyConnect IPC channel will load it at runtime.
Business
Insufficient validation controls allow arbitrary code injection into trusted application flow.
3
Lateral reach — past segmentation narrative 3
Attacker
I trigger the IPC channel to load my malicious resource, executing my code with SYSTEM privileges.
Business
Privilege escalation to SYSTEM level grants complete control over the endpoint and connected network resources.
4
Data at risk — exfiltration narrative 4
Attacker
I establish persistence and move laterally through the network using the compromised endpoint.
Business
VPN client compromise becomes a beachhead for enterprise network infiltration and data exfiltration.
04
What to do
— defensible action- Remediate per the vendor advisory — confirm the fixed build for your version and verify exposure.1
Say it to the boardA vulnerability with this evidence profile is a defensible budget line, not a backlog ticket — fund the change against the proof above.
05
Coverage & confidence
— what we know, and what we don’tEstablished (cited)
Coverage gaps — stated, not hidden
Disclosure & credit2
Catalogued by ciscoCNA
Credited with finding itAntoine Goichot of PwC Luxembourg's Cybersecurity teamfinder
Found an error? Propose a correction.
A correction is a cited counter-claim — it must cite a source,
gets reviewed by a second human, and is never auto-applied. See the
correction convention and our identity
npub1j7gt9ky7sfcrjn8jjee6693dkzvk4rahs0fk2suu7968dfns62zs3mqm3y.