What’s Vulnerable › Vulnerabilities

CVE-2023-20178

• Severity: high (CVSS 7.8 v3.1)
• Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
• EPSS: 5.4% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
• Public exploit or detection template: none known
• Published: 2023-06-28 · updated 2026-10-08
• Weakness: CWE-276

Description

A vulnerability in the client update process of Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client Software for Windows and Cisco Secure Client Software for Windows could allow a low-privileged, authenticated, local attacker to elevate privileges to those of SYSTEM. The client update process is executed after a successful VPN connection is established. This vulnerability exists because improper permissions are assigned to a temporary directory that is created during the update process. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by abusing a specific function of the Windows installer process. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute code with SYSTEM privileges.

Affected products

• Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client: before 4.10.07061 — fixed in 4.10.07061
• Cisco Secure Client: before 5.0.02075 — fixed in 5.0.02075

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client 4.10.07061; Cisco Secure Client 5.0.02075. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

• https://sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-ac-csc-privesc-wx4U4Kw
• https://sec.cloudapps.cisco.com/security/center/content/CiscoSecurityAdvisory/cisco-sa-ac-csc-privesc-wx4U4Kw

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