# CVE-2015-6305: Privilege escalation in n/a

> Local attackers can gain privileges via a Trojan horse DLL in the current working directory of the Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client.

- **Severity:** High 7.2 (`AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 25 Sep 2015
- **Updated:** 6 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-78jc-x38p-j87v

## What is CVE-2015-6305?

CVE-2015-6305 is a high-severity vulnerability in Cisco Anyconnect Secure Mobility Client, published on 25 Sep 2015. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Untrusted search path vulnerability in the CMainThread::launchDownloader function in vpndownloader.exe in Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client 2.0 through 4.1 on Windows allows local users to gain privileges via a Trojan horse DLL in the current working directory, as demonstrated by dbghelp.dll, aka Bug ID CSCuv01279.  NOTE: this vulnerability exists because of an incomplete fix for CVE-2015-4211.

Weakness: CWE-426 (Untrusted Search Path)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2015-6305?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Cisco Anyconnect Secure Mobility Client.

## How do I fix CVE-2015-6305?

No fix has been published for CVE-2015-6305 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2015-6305 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2015-6305 exists.

Public exploit code:

- Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client 3.1.08009 - Local Privilege Escalation (exploitdb)

## Other vulnerabilities in Cisco Anyconnect Secure Mobility Client

- [CVE-2020-3433](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-3433/): Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client for Windows DLL Hijacking (high 7.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2020-3153](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-3153/): Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client for Windows Uncontrolled Search Path (medium 6.5, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2012-3088](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2012-3088/): Security feature bypass in n/a (critical 9.3)
- [CVE-2012-2493](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2012-2493/): Code injection in n/a (critical 9.3)
- [CVE-2011-2040](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2011-2040/): Code injection in n/a (critical 9.3)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2015-6305 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2015-6305 is a high-severity vulnerability in Cisco Anyconnect Secure Mobility Client, published on 25 Sep 2015. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2015-6305 exists.

Affected product: Cisco Anyconnect Secure Mobility Client. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-6305/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-6305/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2015-6305
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2015-6305
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2015-6305

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-6305/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.