AnyConnect for Android Release Notes

AnyConnect for Android Mobile Devices

The AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client provides remote users with secure VPN connections to the Cisco ASA 5500 Series. It provides seamless and secure remote access to enterprise networks allowing installed applications to communicate as though connected directly to the enterprise network. AnyConnect supports connections to IPv4 and IPv6 resources over an IPv4 or IPv6 tunnel.

This document, written for system administrators of the AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client and the Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) 5500, provides release specific information for AnyConnect running on Android devices.

The AnyConnect app is available on Google Play, except for the Kindle package, which is available on Amazon.com. Cisco does not distribute AnyConnect mobile apps. Nor can you deploy the mobile app from the ASA. You can deploy other releases of AnyConnect for desktop devices from the ASA while supporting this mobile release.

AnyConnect Mobile Support Policy

Cisco supports the AnyConnect version that is currently available in the app store; however, fixes and enhancements are provided only in the most recently released version.

AnyConnect Licensing

To connect to the ASA headend, an AnyConnect 4.x Plus or Apex license is required, trial licenses are available, see the Cisco AnyConnect Ordering Guide.

For the latest end-user license agreement, see Cisco End User License Agreement, AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client, Release 4.x.

For our open source licensing acknowledgments, see Open Source Software Used In Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client Release 4.x for Mobile

Cisco AnyConnect Android Beta Testing

Beta builds of AnyConnect are made available for pre-release testing.

To be eligible to receive these versions, opt-in to receive Beta builds using this Google Play link: https://play.google.com/apps/testing/com.cisco.anyconnect.vpn.android.avf

You may opt out later using this same Google Play link. After opting out, you will be required to uninstall the Beta build and reinstall the latest non-Beta version of AnyConnect.

Report issues found during beta testing promptly by sending email to Cisco at ac-mobile-feedback@cisco.com. The Cisco Technical Assistance Center (TAC) does not address issues found in Beta versions of AnyConnect.

Android Supported Devices

Full support for Cisco AnyConnect on Android is provided on devices running Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) through the latest release of Android.

Cisco AnyConnect on Kindle is available from Amazon for the Kindle Fire HD devices, and the New Kindle Fire. AnyConnect for Kindle is equivalent in functionality to the AnyConnect for Android package.

Per App VPN is supported in managed and unmanaged environments. In a managed environment using Samsung KNOX MDM, Samsung devices running Android 4.3 or later with Samsung Knox 2.0, are required. When using Per App in an unmanaged environment, the generic Android methods are used.

For the Network Visibility Module (NVM) capabilities, Samsung devices that are running Samsung Knox 2.8 or later (including 3.2), which requires Android 7.0 or later, are required. For configuration of NVM, the AnyConnect Profile Editor from AnyConnect 4.4.3 or later is also required. Earlier releases do not support mobile NVM configurations.

New Features

New Features in AnyConnect 4.0.09039 for Android Mobile Devices

This update of Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client for Android devices is a maintenance release for all devices running earlier versions of AnyConnect on Android. It addresses a compatibility issue with a pre-released version of Android.

Cisco recommends that you upgrade to this latest release of AnyConnect and review the Guidelines and Limitations for AnyConnect on Android and Known Compatibility Issues to be aware of current operational considerations.

New Features in AnyConnect 4.0.09038 for Android Mobile Devices

This update of Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client for Android devices is a maintenance release for all devices running earlier versions of AnyConnect on Android. See Resolved Issues in AnyConnect 4.0.09038 for Android for all resolved issues.

Cisco recommends that you upgrade to this latest release of AnyConnect and review the Guidelines and Limitations for AnyConnect on Android and Known Compatibility Issues to be aware of current operational considerations.

New Features in AnyConnect 4.0.09030 for Android Mobile Devices

This update of Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client for Android devices is a maintenance release for all devices running earlier versions of AnyConnect on Android. See Resolved Issues in AnyConnect 4.0.09030 for Android for all resolved issues.

Cisco recommends that you upgrade to this latest release of AnyConnect and review the Guidelines and Limitations for AnyConnect on Android and Known Compatibility Issues to be aware of current operational considerations.

New Features in AnyConnect 4.0.09029 for Android Mobile Devices

This update of Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client for Android devices is a maintenance release. It addresses a regression in the 4.0.05062 release: CSCve86218:Android: 4.0.09027 start up fails on Intel Android (x86) devices - Regression from 4.0.05062. See Resolved Issues in AnyConnect 4.0.09029 for Android for all resolved issues.

Cisco recommends that you upgrade to this latest release of AnyConnect and review the Guidelines and Limitations for AnyConnect on Android and Known Compatibility Issues to be aware of current operational considerations.

New Features in AnyConnect 4.0.09027 for Android Mobile Devices

This release of Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client for Android includes Network Visibility Module (NVM) capabilities for MDM configured Samsung KNOX mobile devices.

The Network Visibility Module (NVM) collects rich flow context from an endpoint on or off premise and provides visibility into network connected devices and user behaviors when coupled with a Cisco solution such as Stealthwatch, or a third-party solution such as Splunk. The enterprise administrator can then do capacity and service planning, auditing, compliance, and security analytics.

NVM for Mobile requires the following:

  • Samsung devices that are running Samsung Knox 2.8 or later, which requires Android 7.0 or later. These devices must be configured using an MDM solution. Check with your MDM solution provider for availability and support of NVM.

  • The AnyConnect Profile Editor from AnyConnect 4.4 MR 3 or later. Earlier releases do not support mobile NVM configurations.

  • TND (Trusted Network Detection) configured in the AnyConnect VPN Profile for NVM to work.

  • AnyConnect Apex licensing.

This version of Android is also a maintenance release for devices running earlier versions. See Resolved Issues in AnyConnect 4.0.09027 for Android for all resolved issues.

Cisco recommends that you upgrade to this latest release of AnyConnect and review the Guidelines and Limitations for AnyConnect on Android and Known Compatibility Issues to be aware of current operational considerations.

New Features in AnyConnect 4.0.05057 for Android Mobile Devices

This update of Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client for Android devices includes an enhancement for MDM deployments allowing them to manually re-connect.

Cisco recommends that you upgrade to this latest release of AnyConnect and review the Guidelines and Limitations for AnyConnect on Android and Known Compatibility Issues to be aware of current operational considerations.

New Features in AnyConnect 4.0.05054 for Android Mobile Devices

This update of Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client for Android devices is a maintenance release to address a regression in the previous release, CSCvb32905, Android: Deflate compression does not work 4.0(5053). See Resolved Issues in AnyConnect 4.0.05054 for Android for all resolved issues.

Cisco recommends that you upgrade to this latest release of AnyConnect and review the Guidelines and Limitations for AnyConnect on Android and Known Compatibility Issues to be aware of current operational considerations.

New Features in AnyConnect 4.0.05041 for Android Mobile Devices

This release of AnyConnect for Android contains the following updates:

  • Updates for the May 2016 OpenSSL Vulnerabilities.

  • The Android AnyConnect client now supports OCSP (Online Certificate Status Protocol).

    This allows the client to query the status of individual certificates in real time by making a request to the OCSP responder and parsing the OCSP response to get the certificate status. OCSP is used to verify the entire certificate chain. There is a five second timeout interval per certificate to access the OCSP responder.

    The Android user can enable or disable OCSP verification in the Anyconnect settings activity. We have added new API's in our framework which can be used by MDM administrators to control this feature remotely. Currently we are supporting Samsung and Google MDM.

  • Android now supports Strict Certificate Trust Mode.

    If selected, when authenticating remote security gateways, AnyConnect disallows any certificate that it cannot verify. Instead of prompting the user to accept these certificates, the client fails to connect. This overrides the Block Untrusted Server setting and prompts. If not selected, the client prompts the user to accept the certificate. This is the default behavior.

    We strongly recommend that you enable Strict Certificate Trust for the AnyConnect client. The Android user can enable or disable this mode in the Anyconnect settings activity. Also, there are API's in our framework which can be used by MDM administrators to control this feature remotely.

This vesion of Android is also a maintenance release for devices running earlier versions. See Resolved Issues in AnyConnect 4.0.05041 for Android for all resolved issues.

Cisco recommends that you upgrade to this latest release of AnyConnect and review the Guidelines and Limitations for AnyConnect on Android and Known Compatibility Issues to be aware of current operational considerations.

New Features in AnyConnect 4.0.05034 for Android Mobile Devices

This release of AnyConnect for Android contains the following updates:

  • Certificate Import from the System Certificate Store to the AnyConnect Certificate Store can be accomplished using a new keychainalias parameter which is now part of the create URI action. This enhancement is for the Android mobile platform only.

    The following example creates a new connection entry named SimpleExample whose IP address is set to vpn.example.com with the certificate named client assigned to it for authentication.

    anyconnect://create/?name=SimpleExample&host=vpn.example.com&keychainalias=client

    See Automate AnyConnect Actions Using the URI Handler in the AnyConnect on Mobile Devices chapter of the Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client Administrator Guide, Release 4.0 for URI details.

  • How the Device Unique Identifier is determined in AnyConnect.

    Upon a fresh installation, or after the user clears the application data, AnyConnect now generates a unique 256-byte device ID, which is based on the Android ID. This ID replaces the legacy 40-byte device ID based on the IMEI and MAC address generated in earlier releases.

    If an earlier version of AnyConnect is installed, a legacy ID has already been generated. After upgrading to this version of AnyConnect, this legacy ID continues to be reported as the Device Unique ID until the user clears the application data or uninstalls AnyConnect.

    Generated device IDs can be viewed after the initial application launch from the AnyConnect Diagnostics > Logging and System Information > System > Device Identifiers screen, or inside the AnyConnect log in the device_identifiers.txt file, or on the About Screen.


    Note
    DAP policies on the secure gateway will need to be updated to use the new device IDs.

    See Android Mobile Posture Device ID Generation in the AnyConnect on Mobile Devices chapter of the Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client Administrator Guide, Release 4.0 for Device ID details.

Cisco recommends that you upgrade to this latest release of AnyConnect and review the Guidelines and Limitations for AnyConnect on Android and Known Compatibility Issues to be aware of current operational considerations.

New Features in AnyConnect 4.0.05023 for Android Mobile Devices

This version of AnyConnect for Android includes the following changes:

  • The previous Samsung Knox and AnyConnect ICS+ packages have been combined into a single package called AnyConnect for Android. This app requires Android 4.0 or later, and supports all features in the previous apps.

    • The equivalent AnyConnect for Kindle package is still available via the Amazon Appstore for Kindle devices.

    • As before, Per App VPN is supported in a managed environment when configured using Samsung KNOX MDM. This requires Samsung devices running Android 4.3 or later with Samsung Knox 2.0. Otherwise, Per App VPN uses the Android framework to implement Per App VPN.

  • AnyConnect can now use the TIMA KeyStore for client certificates if it is enabled.

  • Android 5.0 introduced battery saver capabilities that block background network connectivity on your device.

    • When battery saver is enabled, AnyConnect will transition to the Paused state if it is in the background. In Android 5.0 the user can turn battery saver off if desired. This can be done through the Notifications. AnyConnect will automatically reconnect when battery saver is turned off. This is the first thing to check if your VPN pauses unexpectedly.

    • In Android 6.0, when AnyConnect is paused the user will be taken to the Battery Optimization activity, Settings -> Battery -> Battery Optimization, where they can set the AnyConnect app as allowed. Add AnyConnect to the allowed list by selecting All apps from the drop down and setting AnyConnect to Don't optimize. After allowing AnyConnect a manual reconnect is necessary to bring AnyConnect out of the Paused state.

  • Resolution of CSCux41420: OpenSSL December 2015 vulnerabilities. See Resolved Issues in AnyConnect 4.0.05023 for Android for other resolved issues.

Cisco recommends that you upgrade to this latest release of AnyConnect and review the Guidelines and Limitations for AnyConnect on Android and Known Compatibility Issues to be aware of current operational considerations.

New Features in AnyConnect 4.0.05016 for Android Mobile Devices

This update of Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client for Android devices is a maintenance release to address the following localization and UI issues.

  • CSCux39537— Language localization does not work on AnyConnect 4.0.05015

  • CSCux05758—Android M displays anyconnect icons in monochrome/black&white color

The following Android packages have been updated:

Cisco recommends that you upgrade to this latest release of AnyConnect and review the Guidelines and Limitations for AnyConnect on Android and Known Compatibility Issues to be aware of current operational considerations.

New Features in AnyConnect 4.0.05015 for Android Mobile Devices

Cisco AnyConnect 4.0.05015 adds support for:

  • Android 6.0 (Marshmallow)

  • IPv6 on public and private interfaces. IPv6 is supported on both private and public transports using AnyConnect 4.05015 and later, on Android 5 and later. With this combination the following is now allowed:

    • IPv4 over an IPv6 tunnel

    • IPv6 over an IPv6 tunnel

    This is in addtion to the previously allowed tunnel configuratons on earlier AnyConnect and Android releases:

    • IPv4 over an IPv4 tunnel

    • IPv6 over an IPv4 tunnel


      Note

      Due to Google issue 65572, IPv6 over IPv4 does not work on Android 4.4. You must use Android 5 or later.

  • Improved support for Nexus 5X and 6P phones

  • More consistent OS support for IPv6

Also see additional Resolved Issues in AnyConnect 4.0.05015 for Android.

Cisco recommends that you upgrade to this latest release of AnyConnect and review the Guidelines and Limitations for AnyConnect on Android and Known Compatibility Issues to be aware of current operational considerations.

New Features in AnyConnect 4.0.01372 for Android Mobile Devices

This update of Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client for Android devices is a maintenance release to address regressions. The following Android packages have been updated:

Cisco recommends that you upgrade to this latest release of AnyConnect and review the Guidelines and Limitations for AnyConnect on Android and Known Compatibility Issues to be aware of current operational considerations.

New Features in AnyConnect 4.0.01366 for Android Mobile Devices

This update of Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client for Android devices is a maintenance release to address a URI Handler regression in 4.0.01359. The following Android packages have been updated:

Cisco recommends that you upgrade to this latest release of AnyConnect and review the Guidelines and Limitations for AnyConnect on Android and Known Compatibility Issues to be aware of current operational considerations.

New Features in AnyConnect 4.0.01359 for Android Mobile Devices

The following Android packages have been updated:

This update of Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client for Android devices addresses OpenSSL 2015 Vulnerabilities for June and July. It is also a maintenance release for Android devices running earlier versions. See Resolved Issues in AnyConnect 4.0.01359 for Android for all resolved issues.

Cisco recommends that you upgrade to this latest release of AnyConnect and review the Guidelines and Limitations for AnyConnect on Android and Known Compatibility Issues to be aware of current operational considerations.

New Features in AnyConnect 4.0.01332 for Android Mobile Devices

AnyConnect 4.0.01332 for Android is a maintenance release for the AnyConnect ICS+ package only. It addresses a compatibility issue with Android M Dev Preview / Android 5.1.1 which prevented AnyConnect from operating on certain devices.

See Resolved Issues in AnyConnect 4.0.01332 for Android for all resolved issues

Cisco recommends that you upgrade to this latest release of AnyConnect and review the Guidelines and Limitations for AnyConnect on Android and Known Compatibility Issues to be aware of current operational considerations.

New Features in AnyConnect 4.0.01302 for Android Mobile Devices

AnyConnect 4.0.01302 for Android is a maintenance release for the Samsung AnyConnect package only. It addresses a critical issue (CSCuu04642) in the previous release of this package.


Note

This is the last release of this package. Transition to using the AnyConnect ICS+ or AnyConnect for Samsung Knox package.

Cisco recommends that you upgrade to this latest release of AnyConnect and review the Guidelines and Limitations for AnyConnect on Android and Known Compatibility Issues to be aware of current operational considerations.

New Features in AnyConnect 4.0.01287 for Android Mobile Devices

The following packages are available with this release:

Cisco AnyConnect release 4.0.01287 includes the following:

  • Support for Android 5.0 on Samsung devices

  • Additional localization support, see below

  • Resolution of CSCut46503: MARCH 2015 OpenSSL Vulnerabilities

It is also a maintenance release for Android devices running earlier versions. See Resolved Issues in AnyConnect 4.0.01287 for Android for all resolved issues.

Cisco recommends that you upgrade to this latest release of AnyConnect and review the Android Known Compatibility Issues to be aware of current operational considerations.

Additional Localization

AnyConnect 4.0 for mobile devices now includes the following additional language translations in the AnyConnect Android app:

  • Chinese (Taiwan) (zh-tw)

  • Dutch (nl-nl)

  • French (fr-fr)

  • Hungarian (hu-hu)

  • Italian (it-it)

  • Portuguese (Brazil) (pt-br)

  • Russian (ru-ru)

  • Spanish (es-es)

See Localization on Mobile Devices in the Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client Administrator Guide, Release 4.0 for mobile localization options and details.

New Features in AnyConnect 4.0.01233 for Android Mobile Devices

Cisco AnyConnect 4.0.01233 resolves CSCus42726: JANUARY 2015 OpenSSL Vulnerabilities.

It is also a maintenance release for Android devices running earlier versions, and it includes a fix for CSCus37382 which was causing Intel Android devices to fail to connect. See Resolved Issues in AnyConnect 4.0.01233 for Android for all resolved issues.

The following packages are available with this release:

Cisco recommends that you upgrade to this latest release of AnyConnect and review the Guidelines and Limitations for AnyConnect on Android and Known Compatibility Issues to be aware of current operational considerations.

New Features in AnyConnect 4.0.01196 for Android Mobile Devices

The following packages are available with this release:

Other Updates

Cisco AnyConnect 4.0.01196 is a maintenance release for Android devices running earlier versions. See New Features in AnyConnect 4.0.01196 for Android Mobile Devices.

Cisco recommends that you upgrade to this latest release of AnyConnect and review the Guidelines and Limitations for AnyConnect on Android and Known Compatibility Issues to be aware of current operational considerations.

New Features in AnyConnect 4.0.01176 for Android Mobile Devices

The following packages are available with this release:

  • Samsung Knox AnyConnect

    This initial release of AnyConnect for Samsung Knox offers full 4.0 feature support including Per App VPN and TLS 1.2.

  • Samsung AnyConnect

    This initial 4.0 release of Samsung Anyconnect includes TLS 1.2, but does not support Per App VPN.

  • AnyConnect ICS+

    This is an update of AnyConnect ICS+, which has previously included support for both TLS 1.2 and Per App VPN.

  • Cisco AnyConnect (Kindle Tablet Edition)

    This update of AnyConnect Kindle now includes TLS 1.2, but does not support Per App VPN.

Other Updates

Cisco AnyConnect 4.0.01176 is also a maintenance release for Android devices running earlier versions. See Resolved Issues in AnyConnect 4.0.01176 for Android.

Cisco recommends that you upgrade to this latest release of AnyConnect and review the Guidelines and Limitations for AnyConnect on Android and Known Compatibility Issues to be aware of current operational considerations.

New Features in AnyConnect 4.0.01156 for Android Mobile Devices


Note

Only the AnyConnect ICS+ package is available with this release. Additional Cisco AnyConnect packages will be forthcoming.

TLS 1.2

AnyConnect 4.0 now supports TLS version 1.2 with the following additional cipher suites:

  • DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA256

  • DHE-RSA-AES128-SHA256

  • AES256-SHA256

  • AES128-SHA256


Note

AnyConnect TLS 1.2 requires a secure gateway that also supports TLS 1.2. This is available in release 9.3(2) of the ASA on 5500-X models.

Other Updates

Cisco AnyConnect 4.0.01156 is a maintenance release for Android devices running earlier versions of the AnyConnect ICS+ package. See Resolved Issues in AnyConnect 4.0.01156 for Android.

Cisco recommends that you upgrade to this latest release of AnyConnect and review the Guidelines and Limitations for AnyConnect on Android and Known Compatibility Issues to be aware of current operational considerations.

New Features in AnyConnect 4.0.01110 for Android Mobile Devices


Note

  • Only the AnyConnect ICS+ package is available with release 4.0.01110. Additional Cisco AnyConnect packages will be forthcoming.

  • The new AnyConnect Per App VPN Tunneling feature is available for devices running Android 5.0 (Lollipop) or later only.

Per App VPN Tunneling

AnyConnect 4.0 for mobile devices has been enhanced to provide Per App VPN tunneling in addition to traditional system-tunneling. Per App VPN tunneling requires:

  • ASA 9.3.1 or later to configure Per App VPN tunneling.

  • An AnyConnect v4.0 Plus or Apex license.


    Note

    AnyConnect Essentials or Premium licenses do not support Per App VPN. Customers with Premium or Essentials licenses are eligible for AnyConnect 4.0 migration licenses, see the Cisco AnyConnect Ordering Guide for details.

Traditional VPN system-tunneling, as a full-tunneling or split-tunneling configuration, directs packets over the tunnel or in-the-clear based on the destination address. Per App VPN tunneling, operating at Layer 7, directs data over the tunnel or in-the-clear based on the originating app. Per App VPN is split tunneling that allows only data from approved apps to reach the enterprise network.

In Per App VPN tunneling mode, a connection is established for a specific set of apps on the mobile device. The set of apps which AnyConnect tunnels data for are defined by the administrator on the ASA headend using the AnyConnect Enterprise Application Selector tool and the ASA Custom Attributes mechanism. This list of identified and approved apps is sent to the AnyConnect client and used to enforce Per App VPN tunneling on the device. For all other apps not on the list, data is sent outside of the tunnel or in-the-clear.

If you are using a Mobile Device Manager in your environment to configure and control mobile devices on your network, your MDM must configure mobile devices to tunnel the same list of apps that AnyConnect is configured to tunnel. A discrepancy in the set of tunneled apps between the ASA headend and the Mobile Device Manager may cause unexpected app behavior.

AnyConnect determines which mode it operates in based on configuration information received from the ASA headend. Specifically, the presence or absence of a Per App VPN custom attribute in the Group Policy or Dynamic Access Policy (DAP) associated with the connection when the session is being established. If the Per App VPN list is present, AnyConnect operates in Per App VPN mode; if it is absent, AnyConnect operates in system-tunneling mode.

Other Updates

Cisco AnyConnect 4.0.01110 is a maintenance release for Android devices running earlier versions of the AnyConnect ICS+ package. See Resolved Issues in AnyConnect 4.0.01110 for Android.

Cisco recommends that you upgrade to this latest release of AnyConnect and review the Guidelines and Limitations for AnyConnect on Android and Known Compatibility Issues to be aware of current operational considerations.

New Features in AnyConnect 4.0.01093 for Android Mobile Devices

Cisco AnyConnect 4.0.01093 supports the Android 5.0 (Lollipop) OS.


Note

  • Only the AnyConnect ICS+ package is available with release 4.0.01093. Additional Cisco AnyConnect packages will be forthcoming.

  • Developer preview versions of Android 5.0 are not supported by AnyConnect. You must use the released version after it is made available.

This AnyConnect release is also a maintenance release for Android devices running earlier versions of AnyConnect 3.0 for Android. See Resolved Issues in AnyConnect 4.0.01093 for Android.

Cisco recommends that you upgrade to this latest release of AnyConnect and review the Guidelines and Limitations for AnyConnect on Android and Known Compatibility Issues to be aware of current operational considerations.

Refer to the following AnyConnect 3.0 documents when using this release:

Android AnyConnect Feature Matrix

The following table indicates the remote access features that are supported by Cisco AnyConnect on Android:

Category: Feature Android VPN

Deployment and Configuration:

Install or upgrade from application store. Yes
Cisco VPN Profile support (manual import) Yes
Cisco VPN Profile support (import on connect) Yes
MDM configured connection entries Yes
User-configured connection entries Yes

Tunneling:

TLS Yes
Datagram TLS (DTLS) Yes
IPsec IKEv2 NAT-T Yes
IKEv2 - raw ESP Yes
Suite B (IPsec only) Yes
TLS compression Yes
Dead peer detection Yes
Tunnel keepalive Yes
Multiple active network interfaces No
Per App Tunneling Yes, Android 5.0+ or Samsung Knox
Full tunnel (OS may make exceptions on some traffic, such as traffic to the app store). Yes
Split tunnel (split include). Yes
Local LAN (split exclude). No
Split-DNS Yes, works with split include.
Auto Reconnect / Network Roaming Yes, regardless of the Auto Reconnect profile specification, AnyConnect Mobile always attempts to maintain the VPN as users move between 3G and WiFi networks.
VPN on-demand (triggered by destination) No
VPN on-demand (triggered by application) No
Rekey Yes
IPv4 public transport Yes
IPv6 public transport Yes, requires Android 5.0 or later.
IPv4 over IPv4 tunnel Yes
IPv4 over IPv6 tunnel Yes
IPv6 over IPv4 tunnel Yes
IPv6 over IPv6 tunnel Yes
Default domain Yes
DNS server configuration Yes
Private-side proxy support Only support direct proxy mode on Android 10.
Proxy Exceptions No
Public-side proxy support No
Pre-login banner Yes
Post-login banner Yes
DSCP Preservation Yes

Connecting and Disconnecting:

VPN load balancing Yes
Backup server list Yes
Optimal Gateway Selection No

Authentication:

Touch ID

 No
SAML 2.0 Yes
Client Certificate Authentication Yes
Online Certificate Status Protocol (OCSP) Yes
Manual user certificate management Yes
Manual server certificate management Yes
SCEP legacy enrollment Please confirm for your platform. Yes
SCEP proxy enrollment Please confirm for your platform. Yes
Automatic certificate selection Yes
Manual certificate selection Yes
Smart card support No
Username and password Yes
Tokens/challenge Yes
Double authentication Yes
Group URL (specified in server address) Yes
Group selection (drop-down selection) Yes
Credential prefill from user certificate Yes
Save password No

User interface:

Standalone GUI Yes
Native OS GUI No
API / URI Handler (see below) Yes
UI customization No
UI localization Yes, app contains pre-packaged languages.
User preferences Yes
Home screen widgets for one-click VPN access Yes
AnyConnect specific status icon Optional

Mobile Posture: (AnyConnect Identity Extensions, ACIDex)

Serial number or unique ID check Yes
OS and AnyConnect version shared with headend Yes

AnyConnect NVM support

Yes, with specific Samsung Knox and MDM requirements.

URI Handling:

Add connection entry Yes
Connect to a VPN Yes
Credential pre-fill on connect Yes
Disconnect VPN Yes
Import certificate Yes
Import localization data Yes
Import XML client profile Yes
External (user) control of URI commands Yes

Reporting and Troubleshooting:

Statistics Yes
Logging / Diagnostic Information (DART) Yes

Certifications:

FIPS 140-2 Level 1 Yes

Adaptive Security Appliance Requirements

A minimum release of the ASA is required for the following features:


Note

Refer to the feature matrix for your platform to verify the availability of these features in the current AnyConnect mobile release.

  • You must upgrade to ASA 9.7.1.24, 9.8.2.28, 9.9.2.1 or later to use the SAML authentication feature. Make sure that both the client and server versions are up-to-date.

  • You must upgrade to ASA 9.3.2 or later to use TLS 1.2.

  • You must upgrade to ASA 9.3.2 or later to use Per App VPN tunneling mode.

  • You must upgrade to ASA 9.0 to use the following mobile features:

    • IPsec IKEv2 VPN

    • Suite B cryptography

    • SCEP Proxy

    • Mobile Posture

  • ASA Release 8.0(3) and Adaptive Security Device Manager (ASDM) 6.1(3) are the minimum releases that support AnyConnect for mobile devices.

Other Cisco Headend Support

AnyConnect SSL connectivity is supported on Cisco IOS 15.3(3)M+/15.2(4)M+.

AnyConnect IKEv2 connectivity is supported on Cisco ISR g2 15.2(4)M+

AnyConnect SSL and IKEv2 is supported on Cisco Firepower Threat Defense, release 6.2.1 and later.

Guidelines and Limitations for AnyConnect on Android

  • AnyConnect for Android supports only the VPN features that are strictly related to remote access.

  • AnyConnect for Android supports only the Network Visibility Module. It does not support any other AnyConnect modules.

  • The ASA does not provide distributions and updates for AnyConnect for Android. They are available only on Google Play.

  • AnyConnect for Android supports connection entries that the user adds and connection entries populated by an AnyConnect profile pushed by an ASA. The Android device supports no more than one AnyConnect profile, which is the last one received from a headend. However, a profile can consist of multiple connection entries.

  • If users attempt to install AnyConnect on devices that are not supported, they receive the pop-up message Installation Error: Unknown reason -8. This message is generated by the Android OS.

  • When users have an AnyConnect widget on their home screen, the AnyConnect services are automatically started (but not connected) regardless of the "Launch at startup" preference.

  • AnyConnect for Android requires UTF-8 character encoding for extended ASCII characters when using pre-fill from client certificates. The client certificate must be in UTF-8 if you want to use prefill, per the instructions in KB-890772 and KB-888180.

  • AnyConnect blocks voice calls if it is sending or receiving VPN traffic over an EDGE connection per the inherent nature of EDGE and other early radio technology.

  • Some known file compression utilities do not successfully decompress log bundles packaged with the use of the AnyConnect Send Log button. As a workaround, use the native utilities on Windows and macOS to decompress AnyConnect log files.

Known Compatibility Issues

  • IPv6 on public and private interfaces.

    IPv6 is supported on both private and public transports using AnyConnect 4.05015 and later, on Android 5 and later. With this combination the following is now allowed: IPv4 over an IPv6 tunnel, IPv6 over an IPv6 tunnel.

    This is in addtion to the previously allowed tunnel configuratons on earlier AnyConnect and Android releases: IPv4 over an IPv4 tunnel, and IPv6 over an IPv4 tunnel.


    Note

    Due to Google issue 65572, IPv6 over IPv4 does not work on Android 4.4. You must use Android 5 or later.

  • Battery saver and AnyConnect:

    • Android 5.0 introduced battery saver capabilities that block background network connectivity on your device. When battery saver is enabled, AnyConnect will transition to the Paused state if it is in the background. To work around this on Android 5.0, users may turn off battery saver via the device settings: Settings -> Battery -> Battery saver or from the notification bar.

    • In Android 6.0+, when AnyConnect transitions to the Paused state as a result of battery saver, you see a popup with the option to make AnyConnect part of the allowed list from battery saver mode. Making AnyConnect part of the allowed list provides a battery savings without impacting AnyConnect’s ability to run in the background.

    • Once AnyConnect is paused due to the batter saver, a manual reconnect is necessary to bring AnyConnect out of the Paused state, regardless of your action to turn off battery saver or to add AnyConnect to the allowed list.

  • Split DNS does not work on any Android 4.4 device, and also does not work on Samsung 5.x Android devices. For Samsung devices, the only workaround is to connect to a group with split DNS disabled. On other devices you must upgrade to Android 5.x to receive the fix for this problem.

    This is due to a known issue that is present in Android 4.4 ( Issue #64819), fixed in Android 5.x, but not incorporated into Samsung 5.x android devices.

  • Due to a bug in Android 5.x (Google Issue #85758, Cisco Issue # CSCus38925), if the AnyConnect app is closed from the recent apps screen it may not operate properly. To restore proper operation, terminate AnyConnect in Settings and then restart it.

  • On Samsung mobile devices the Settings > Wi-Fi > Smart network switch allows switching from WIFI to LTE to maintain a stable Internet connection (when the Wi-Fi connection is not optimum). This also results in a pause and reconnect of the active VPN tunnel. Cisco recommends turning this off, since it may result in continuous reconnects.

  • On Android 5.0 (Lollipop), which supports multiple active users, the VPN connection tunnels data for a single user only, not for all users on the device. Background data flow may be occurring in the clear.

  • Due to a bug in Android 4.3.1(Google Issue #62073), users using the AnyConnect ICS+ package cannot enter non-fully qualified domain names. For example, users cannot type "internalhost", they must type "internalhost.company.com."

  • The AT&T firmware updates on HTC One to Android 4.3 (software version: 3.17.502.3) do not support "HTC AnyConnect." Customers must uninstall "HTC AnyConnect", and install "AnyConnect ICS+." (HTC AnyConnect will work on the international edition, with software version of 3.22.1540.1). Check your software version on your device at Settings > About > Software information > Software number.

  • We are pleased to report that Google Issue #70916, VPN connections will fail to connect if the administrator has set the MTU for Android tunnels lower than 1280, has been resolved in Android 5.0 (Lollipop). The following problem information is provided for reference:

    Due to a regression in Android 4.4.3,( Google Issue #70916, Cisco CSCup24172), VPN connections will fail to connect if the administrator has set the MTU for Android tunnels lower than 1280. This issue has been reported to Google and will require a new version of the OS to correct the regression introduced in Android 4.4.3. To workaround this problem, ensure that the head-end administrator has not configured the tunnel MTU to be lower than 1280.

    When encountered, the message displayed to the end user is: System configuration settings could not be applied. A VPN connection will not be established, and AnyConnect debug logs will report: 

    
E/vpnandroid( 2419): IPCInteractionThread: NCSS: General Exception occured, telling client
E/vpnandroid( 2419): java.lang.IllegalStateException: command '181 interface fwmark rule add tun0' 
failed with '400 181 Failed to add fwmark rule (No such process)'
E/vpnandroid( 2419): at android.os.Parcel.readException(Parcel.java:1473)
E/vpnandroid( 2419): at android.os.Parcel.readException(Parcel.java:1419)
E/vpnandroid( 2419): at 
com.cisco.android.nchs.aidl.IICSSupportService$Stub$Proxy.establish
(IICSSupportService.java:330)
E/vpnandroid( 2419): at com.cisco.android.nchs.support.VpnBuilderWrapper.establish
(VpnBuilderWrapper.java:137)
E/vpnandroid( 2419): at com.cisco.android.nchs.support.NCSSIPCServer.callServiceMethod
(NCSSIPCServer.java:233)
E/vpnandroid( 2419): at 
com.cisco.android.nchs.ipc.IPCInteractionThread.handleClientInteraction
(IPCInteractionThread.java:230)
E/vpnandroid( 2419): at com.cisco.android.nchs.ipc.IPCInteractionThread.run
(IPCInteractionThread.java:90)
E/acvpnagent( 2450): Function: ApplyVpnConfiguration 
File: NcssHelper.cpp Line: 740 failed to establish VPN
E/acvpnagent( 2450): Function: PluginResult AndroidSNAKSystem::configDeviceForICS() 
File: AndroidSNAKSystem.cpp Line: 665 failed to apply vpn configuration
E/acvpnagent( 2450): Function: virtual PluginResult AndroidSNAKSystem::ApplyConfiguration() 
File: AndroidSNAKSystem.cpp Line: 543 Failed to Configure System for VPN.

  • We are pleased to report that Android 4.4 (KitKat) bug Google Issue #61948 (AnyConnect users will experience High Packet Loss over their VPN connection /users will experience timeouts) has been resolved in Google's release of Android 4.4.1 which Google has begun distributing to some devices via Software Update. The following problem information is provided for reference:

    Due to a bug in Android 4.4 (Issue #61948, also see the Cisco Support Update), AnyConnect users will experience High Packet Loss over their VPN connection. This has been seen on the Google Nexus 5 running Android 4.4 with AnyConnect ICS+. Users will experience timeouts when attempting to access certain network resources. Also, in the ASA logs, a syslog message will appear with text similar to "Transmitting large packet 1420 (threshold 1405)."

    Until Google produces a fix for Android 4.4, VPN administrators may temporarily reduce the maximum segment size for TCP connections on the ASA by configuring the following sysopt connection tcpmss <mss size>. The default for this parameter is 1380 bytes. Reduce this value by the difference between the values seen in the ASA logs. In the above example, the difference is 15 bytes; the value should thus be no more than 1365. Reducing this value will negatively impact performance for connected VPN users where large packets are transmitted.

  • AnyConnect for Android may have connectivity issues when connecting to a mobile network using the IPv6 transition mechanism known as 464xlat. Known affected devices include the Samsung Galaxy Note III LTE connecting to the T-Mobile US network. This device defaults to an IPv6 only mobile network connection. Attempting a connection may result in a loss of mobile connectivity until the device is rebooted.

    To prevent this problem, use the AnyConnect ICS+ app, and change your device settings to obtain IPv4 network connectivity or connect using a Wi-Fi network. For the Samsung Galaxy Note III LTE connecting to the T-Mobile US network, follow the instructions provided by T-Mobile to set the Access Point Name (APN) on your device, making sure APN Protocol is set to IPv4.

  • The AnyConnect ICS+ package may have issues when a private IP address range within the VPN overlaps with the range of the outside interface of the client device. When this route overlap occurs, the user may be able to successfully connect to the VPN but then be unable to actually access anything. This issue has been seen on cellular networks which use NAT (Network Address Translation) and assign addresses within the 10.0.0.0 - 10.255.255.255 range, and is due to AnyConnect having limited control of routes in the Android VPN framework. The vendor specific Android packages have full routing control and may work better in such a scenario.

  • An Asus tablet running Android 4.0 (ICS) may be missing the tun driver. This causes AVF AnyConnect to fail.

  • Android security rules prevent the device from sending and receiving multimedia messaging service (MMS) messages while a VPN connection is up. Most devices and service providers display a notification if you try to send an MMS message while the VPN connection is up. Android permits sending and receiving of messages when the VPN is not connected.

  • Due to Google Isssue 41037 , when pasting text from the clipboard, a space is inserted in front of the text. In AnyConnect, when copying text such as a one time password, the user has to delete this erroneous white space.

Open and Resolved AnyConnect Issues

The Cisco Bug Search Tool, https://tools.cisco.com/bugsearch/, has detailed information about the following open and resolved issues in this release. A Cisco account is required to access the Bug Search Tool. If you do not have one, register at https://tools.cisco.com/RPF/register/register.do.

Open Issues in AnyConnect for Android

Identifier Headline
CSCuu08852 Android 5.0 Samsung: Split DNS fails
CSCuz90837 Android: IPv6 LTE user not able to access v4-only head-end
CSCvb26006 Android 7.0 - DNS not functioning in split DNS configurations
CSCvf05743 Android: Wi-Fi Assistant feature conflicts with AnyConnect

Resolved Issues in AnyConnect 4.0.09039 for Android

Identifier Headline
CSCvf62248 Android: 9038 fails to start - Pixel XL with Android O pre-release - Failed to bind VpnService

Resolved Issues in AnyConnect 4.0.09038 for Android

Identifier Headline
CSCve16765 Android: AUP should be displayed whenever there is a update in AUP string in NVM profile.
CSCve93100 Android: NVM doesn't start after upgrade from unsupported to supported AC.
CSCvf15961 Android: Exporter crashes when new NVM profile is registered
CSCvf19436 Android: AC App crashed when upgrading AC from unsupported to supported NVM after VPN connection
CSCvf19976 NVM service does not show up in the process status after NVM installation .
CSCvf27193 [android] Incorrect local IP parsed for ppp interface
CSCvf33882 Android: AUP is not updating when AUP screen is open and admin pushing new profile.
CSCvf40976 Android: Cached packets are not seen after device reboot.

Resolved Issues in AnyConnect 4.0.09030 for Android

Identifier Headline
CSCvf14983 Android: Airwatch Knox incompatibility

Resolved Issues in AnyConnect 4.0.09029 for Android

Identifier Headline
CSCve86218 Android: 4.0.09027 start up fails on Intel Android (x86) devices- Regression from 4.0.05062

Resolved Issues in AnyConnect 4.0.09027 for Android

Identifier Headline
CSCuz52238 Android: Portuguese translation error crianças s/b conectad
CSCve49663 iOS/Android: Backup connection entry fails to be tried on ATT LTE

Resolved Issues in AnyConnect 4.0.05062 for Android

Identifier Headline
CSCuy12161 AnyConnect Should No Longer Require KeyAgreement in Server Certificate
CSCuz21058 Upgrade from 4.0.05026 to 5.0.05034 and connection entry not displayed
CSCvb99286 Android 5.1.1 Fails to locate Gateway on 4G network
CSCvc09205 Android 6+ RA-VPN sessions shown with the dummy mac address 02:00:00:00:00:00 in ISE

Resolved Issues in AnyConnect 4.0.05057 for Android

Identifier Headline
CSCva72042 [Android Knox] Cannot manually reconnect after managed config disconnect

Resolved Issues in AnyConnect 4.0.05054 for Android

Identifier Headline
CSCvb32905 Android: Deflate compression does not work 4.0(5053)

Resolved Issues in AnyConnect 4.0.05053 for Android

Identifier Headline
CSCuh85179 LAT 1 - AnyConnect - JA - Android - banner - English
CSCul21034 Loc:English Strings in Creating connection profile using URI Handler GUI
CSCuo47016 XMLSoft libxml2 Decoding Heap-Based Buffer Underflow Vulnerability
CSCuz46926 LAT1-Anyconnect-Mobile-Global-Step 1-5-Harcoded-item-loc
CSCuz46930 LAT1_ Anyconnect_Mobile_step4_GL_Hardcorded-Item-Loc
CSCuz46941 LAT1-Anyconnect-Global-Mobile-Step 9-Hardcoded-Item-Loc
CSCuz52238 Android: Portuguese translation error crianas s/b conectado
CSCva72042 [Android Knox] Cannot manually reconnect after managed config disconnect
CSCvb18501 [Android] Support always-on for managed profiles.

Resolved Issues in AnyConnect 4.0.05042 for Android

Identifier Headline
CSCuz52238 Android: Portuguese translation error criancas s/b conectado

Resolved Issues in AnyConnect 4.0.05041 for Android

Identifier

Headline

CSCuz52506

Evaluation of anyconnect for OpenSSL May 2016

Resolved Issues in AnyConnect 4.0.05034 for Android

None

Resolved Issues in AnyConnect 4.0.05026 for Android

Identifier

Headline

CSCuy54600

Evaluation of anyconnect for OpenSSL March 2016

CSCuy79577

Android: AnyConnect fails to start on Android N

Resolved Issues in AnyConnect 4.0.05024 for Android

Identifier

Headline

CSCux05472

[Android] Split DNS broken on M

Resolved Issues in AnyConnect 4.0.05023 for Android

Identifier

Headline

CSCux41420

OpenSSL December 2015 vulnerabilities

CSCux42287

AC status becomes Paused (no network) on Marshmallow.

Resolved Issues in AnyConnect 4.0.05016 for Android

Identifier

Headline

CSCux05758

[android] M displays anyconnect icons in monochrome/black&white color

CSCux39537

Language localization does not work on AnyConnect 4.0.05015

Resolved Issues in AnyConnect 4.0.05015 for Android

Identifier

Headline

CSCui67259

Android SecureRandom vulnerability affects AnyConnect

CSCup35390

[Tunnel All DNS] It is always set to true on the mobile platform

CSCut46503

MARCH 2015 OpenSSL Vulnerabilities

CSCuv38716

unable to import certificate using URI handler on Android 5.0.1

CSCuw22064

Unable to make all necessary routing table modifications

Resolved Issues in AnyConnect 4.0.05005 for Android

Identifier

Headline

CSCui67259

Android SecureRandom vulnerability affects AnyConnect

CSCup35390

[Tunnel All DNS] It is always set to true on the mobile platform

CSCur34245

iOS - Wrong UDID reported - changing device and restoring from backup

CSCut46503

MARCH 2015 OpenSSL Vulnerabilities

CSCuv38716

unable to import certificate using URI handler on Android 5.0.1

Resolved Issues in AnyConnect 4.0.01372 for Android

Identifier

Headline

CSCuv61121

One time Crash after user upgrades from previous version of AC

CSCuv65592

Android AC - Head-end profiles disappear when reboot or exit AC UI

Resolved Issues in AnyConnect 4.0.01366 for Android

Identifier Headline

CSCuv61128

URI Handler no longer works on Android - Regression

Resolved Issues in AnyConnect 4.0.01359 for Android

Identifier

Headline

CSCuq29287

AnyConnect Android Un-restrictive Activity Access Vulnerability

CSCuu60485

Android: Remove Dependency Busybox

CSCuu83398

OpenSSL June 2015 Vulnerabilities - AnyConnect

CSCuv07004

Cannot switch to different group during VPN profile creation

CSCuv26246

OpenSSL July 2015 vulnerability - AnyConnect

Resolved Issues in AnyConnect 4.0.01332 for Android

Identifier

Headline

CSCur31959

Enhancement: Android DSCP preservation support

CSCut21232

Localization Selection string search criteria needs to be optimized

CSCuu18508

[UE] AnyConnect Warming notification message needs a different color

CSCuu53359

Android: LoggingActivity crash

CSCuu59997

AnyConnect fails to connect on Android M Dev Prev MPZ44Q / Nexus 6 5.1.1

Resolved Issues in AnyConnect 4.0.01302 for Android

Identifier

Headline

CSCuu04642

VPN: Android Samsung AnyConnect (Legacy) package does not work

Resolved Issues in AnyConnect 4.0.01287 for Android

Identifier

Headline

CSCuq64158

Samsung AC client doesn't query ASA VPN DNS servers for SRV type records

CSCus73367

Samsung packages broken with Android 5.0 Selinux CTS update

CSCut46503

MARCH 2015 OpenSSL Vulnerabilities

Resolved Issues in AnyConnect 4.0.01233 for Android

Identifier

Headline

CSCuo24940

AnyConnect renders UI dialog from arbitrary host.

CSCur30168

Knox: No way to reconnect profile if user Cancel vpn connection

CSCus37382

Android IA: The local network may not be trustworthy - unable to connect

CSCus42726

JANUARY 2015 OpenSSL Vulnerabilities

Resolved Issues in AnyConnect 4.0.01196 for Android

Identifier Headline

CSCui83079

Mobile client can't handle some special characters in tunnel group names

CSCuq29214

AnyConnect 3.0.09431 Android OS least-privilege Vulnerability

CSCuq99308

AnyConnect closes IPsec connection upon rekey

CSCur934938

Android:AC 4.0 IKEv2 EAP-MD5 failing to ASR

Resolved Issues in AnyConnect 4.0.01176 for Android

Identifier Headline

CSCur97471

TLS 1.2 Update: AC Mobile fails cert auth connecting to ASA v.9.3.2

Resolved Issues in AnyConnect 4.0.01156 for Android

Identifier Headline

CSCup18505

AnyConnect Widget disappears after 10 second of connection

CSCur37528

Android: AnyConnect 4.0 DART zip does not open properly on W7 (corrupt?)

CSCur49254

Android: Username/pw prompt unavailable after return via notification

CSCur51577

Android: AnyConnect 4.0 not fully exiting with Menu->Exit

CSCur72442

Android 5.0: Clear App Data needed - Lollipop upgrade with AC installed

CSCur72497

AnyConnect 4.0: Online User Guide link needs to point to 4.x user guide

Resolved Issues in AnyConnect 4.0.01110 for Android

Identifier

Headline

CSCur38052

Android: AirWatch MDM profile push fails with AnyConnect 4.0

CSCur36841

Android: AnyConnect 4.0 requests Location and other unnecessary perms

CSCur44572

Android: Text hints should not be offered when entering a password

Resolved Issues in AnyConnect 4.0.01093 for Android

Identifier

Headline

CSCup07733

Android: Incorrect Intel Android architecture check on some devices

CSCup83003

Android: AnyConnect should not auto-disconnect on CLAT46 Network

CSCur31571

AnyConnect vulnerable to POODLE attack (CVE-2014-3566) Android