# CVE-2023-20241: Memory corruption in Cisco Secure Client

> An authenticated local attacker can crash the VPN Agent service by sending crafted packets, causing a denial of service for all users.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H`)
- **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:** 22 Nov 2023
- **Updated:** 5 Jun 2025
- **Also known as:** GHSA-23qx-pfmx-49j9

## What is CVE-2023-20241?

CVE-2023-20241 is a medium-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Cisco Anyconnect Secure Mobility Client, published on 22 Nov 2023. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Multiple vulnerabilities in Cisco Secure Client Software, formerly AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client, could allow an authenticated, local attacker to cause a denial of service (DoS) condition on an affected system.

 These vulnerabilities are due to an out-of-bounds memory read from Cisco Secure Client Software. An attacker could exploit these vulnerabilities by logging in to an affected device at the same time that another user is accessing Cisco Secure Client on the same system, and then sending crafted packets to a port on that local host. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to crash the VPN Agent service, causing it to be unavailable to all users of the system. To exploit these vulnerabilities, the attacker must have valid credentials on a multi-user system.

Weakness: CWE-125 (Out-of-bounds Read)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-20241?

It affects 2 products.


Products: Cisco Anyconnect Secure Mobility Client, Cisco Secure Client.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-20241?

No fix has been published for CVE-2023-20241 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2023-20241 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-20241 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## 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-2023-20241 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-20241 is a medium-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Cisco Anyconnect Secure Mobility Client, published on 22 Nov 2023. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-20241 in the wild and no public exploit code.

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-2023-20241/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-20241/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-20241
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-20241
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-20241

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-20241/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.