CVE-2020-3153
Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client for Windows Uncontrolled Search Path Vulnerability
- 6.5MediumCVSS base score
- 28.5%Exploitation in 30 daysEPSS · top 1.8% of all CVEs
- YesKnown exploitedin CISA's KEV since 24 Oct 2022
- 1Public exploitsMetasploit, Nuclei and Exploit-DB
Description
A vulnerability in the installer component of Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client for Windows could allow an authenticated local attacker to copy user-supplied files to system level directories with system level privileges. The vulnerability is due to the incorrect handling of directory paths. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by creating a malicious file and copying the file to a system directory. An exploit could allow the attacker to copy malicious files to arbitrary locations with system level privileges. This could include DLL pre-loading, DLL hijacking, and other related attacks. To exploit this vulnerability, the attacker needs valid credentials on the Windows system.
Exploited in the wild
CISA lists this vulnerability in its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog as Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client for Windows Uncontrolled Search Path Vulnerability.
- Added
- 24 Oct 2022
- Fix due (US federal)
- 14 Nov 2022
- Used by ransomware
- Known
Apply updates per vendor instructions.
ENISA's EU Vulnerability Database lists it as exploited, from CISA's KEV, since 24 Oct 2022.
Public exploit
An exploit or proof of concept is public: anyone can try it against an unpatched system. The public collections list a Metasploit module for it. CISA's SSVC rates its exploitation: it is being exploited.
Show the exploits1
Metasploit modules1 module
- Cisco AnyConnect Privilege Escalations (CVE-2020-3153 and CVE-2020-3433) (Metasploit module) (opens in a new tab)
exploit/windows/local/anyconnect_lpeRank excellentdisclosed 5 Aug 2020
Modules, templates and exploits as listed by the Metasploit Framework (BSD-3-Clause), ProjectDiscovery's Nuclei templates (MIT) and the Exploit Database (GPLv2), read once a day. Where the data comes from
Timeline
ID reserved
By cisco
- 2 months later
· 2 months later
Published
- 3 years later
· 3 years later
Added to CISA KEV
Known exploited, also by ransomware
- 4 years later
· 4 years later
Record updated
Changes after publication (a new score, a public exploit, EPSS crossing 1, 10 or 50 %, leaving KEV) are kept since November 2026; earlier ones are not known.
Scores
| Scored by | CVSS | Score | Vector |
|---|---|---|---|
| ciscoCNA (assigner) | 3.0 | Medium6.5 | CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:H/A:N |
| NVDNVD · Analyzed | 3.1 | Medium6.5 | CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:H/A:N |
- EPSS (exploitation in 30 days)
- 28.5% · top 1.8% of all CVEs (11 Nov 2026)
- CISA SSVC
- Exploitation: active · Automatable: no · Technical impact: partial
The list uses the assigner's score when there is one, then CISA's, then NVD's: Medium 6.5.
Affected products
Cisco · Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client
- affected unspecified – < n/a
What to do
Exploitation: 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.
References
References6
- 20200219 Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client for Windows Uncontrolled Search Path Vulnerability (opens in a new tab)vendor-advisoryx_refsource_CISCOx_transferred
- 20200421 Cisco AnyConnect elevation of privileges due to insecure handling of path names (opens in a new tab)mailing-listx_refsource_FULLDISCx_transferred
- http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/157340/Cisco-AnyConnect-Secure-Mobility-Client-4.8.01090-Privilege-Escalation.html (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_MISCx_transferred
- http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/158219/Cisco-AnyConnect-Path-Traversal-Privilege-Escalation.html (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_MISCx_transferred
- http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/159420/Cisco-AnyConnect-Privilege-Escalation.html (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_MISCx_transferred
- https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2020-3153 (opens in a new tab)government-resource
Sources
The same CVE in the primary databases and aggregators, to check against.
- CVE.org record (opens in a new tab)
- CVE List JSON (GitHub) (opens in a new tab)
- NVD (opens in a new tab)
- CISA KEV catalog (opens in a new tab)
- FIRST EPSS (opens in a new tab)
- EUVD EUVD-2020-24424 (opens in a new tab)
- OSV.dev (opens in a new tab)
- GitHub Advisories (opens in a new tab)
- CIRCL Vulnerability-Lookup (opens in a new tab)
Badge for a README or a ticket
[](https://cveledger.app/cve/CVE-2020-3153)Record last updated .