Menu
Home
People
Places
Arts
History
Plants & Animals
Science
Life & Culture
Technology
Reference.org
Cisco Systems VPN Client
open-in-new
<h2 id="availability-and-compatibility">Availability and compatibility</h2> <p>The software is not free but is often installed on university and business computers in accordance with a site-license. As with most corporate licenses, administrators are allowed to freely distribute the software to users within their network. </p><p>The open-source <a href="https://www.unix-ag.uni-kl.de/~massar/vpnc/">vpnc client</a> can connect to most VPNs supported by the official client. </p><p>VPN Client 4.9.01.0230 beta added support for Mac OS X 10.6.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a> Stable version 4.9.01.0180 appears to lack that support; 4.9.00.0050 explicitly did <i>not</i> support versions of Mac OS X later than 10.5.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a> </p><p>VPN Client 5.0.07.0290 added support for 64-bit versions of Windows Vista and Windows 7.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="security">Security</h2> <p>The client uses <a href="/facts/Profile_configuration_file/paFQWrGf">profile configuration files</a> (.pcf) that store VPN passwords either <a href="/facts/Cryptographic_hash_function/cuxkgbST">hashed</a> with type 7, or stored as <a href="/facts/Plaintext/tWnBDCgE">plaintext</a>. A vulnerability has been identified,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6"><sup>6</sup></a> and those passwords can easily be decoded using software or online services.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7"><sup>7</sup></a> To work around these issues, network administrators are advised to use the Mutual Group Authentication feature, or use unique passwords (that aren't related to other important network passwords).<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:8" href="#fn:8"><sup>8</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="see-also">See also</h2> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Cisco_ASA/5BKtatg5">Cisco ASA</a>, the product line that replaced Cisco VPN Concentrator on the server side</li></ul> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>"Cisco Secure Products and Solutions". <a href="https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/collateral/security/vpn-client/end_of_life_c51-680819.html" target="_blank">https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/collateral/security/vpn-client/end_of_life_c51-680819.html</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>"Cisco-VPN-client". <a href="https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/web/obsolete/security-vpn-client.html" target="_blank">https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/web/obsolete/security-vpn-client.html</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:3"><p>Release Notes for VPN Client, Release 4.9.01.0230 Beta for Mac OS X <a href="https://www.cisco.com/web/software/282364316/35919/4.9.1.0230-beta-rel-notes.txt" target="_blank">https://www.cisco.com/web/software/282364316/35919/4.9.1.0230-beta-rel-notes.txt</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:4"><p>Release Notes for VPN Client, Release 4.9.00.0050 for Mac OS X, Revised: May 21, 2010, OL-11179-04 <a href="https://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/security/vpn_client/cisco_vpn_client/vpn_client49/release/notes/49client.pdf" target="_blank">https://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/security/vpn_client/cisco_vpn_client/vpn_client49/release/notes/49client.pdf</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:5"><p>Release Notes for Cisco VPN Client, Release 5.0.07.0290 <a href="https://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/security/vpn_client/cisco_vpn_client/vpn_client5007/release/notes/vpnclient5007.html#wp84047" target="_blank">https://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/security/vpn_client/cisco_vpn_client/vpn_client5007/release/notes/vpnclient5007.html#wp84047</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:6"><p>"Cisco Security Notice: Cisco IPsec VPN Implementation Group Password Usage Vulnerability". <a href="https://www.cisco.com/en/US/tech/tk583/tk372/technologies_security_notice09186a0080215981.html" target="_blank">https://www.cisco.com/en/US/tech/tk583/tk372/technologies_security_notice09186a0080215981.html</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:7"><p>"Cisco Systems VPN Client Group Password Decoder". <a href="http://www.unix-ag.uni-kl.de/~massar/bin/cisco-decode" target="_blank">http://www.unix-ag.uni-kl.de/~massar/bin/cisco-decode</a> <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:8"><p>"Cisco Security Notice: Cisco IPsec VPN Implementation Group Password Usage Vulnerability". <a href="https://www.cisco.com/en/US/tech/tk583/tk372/technologies_security_notice09186a0080215981.html" target="_blank">https://www.cisco.com/en/US/tech/tk583/tk372/technologies_security_notice09186a0080215981.html</a> <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>