Mac – The process com.cisco.anyconnect.macos.acsockext hogs Mac CPU but cannot be killed or stopped from launching

cpumacvpn

MacBookPro16,1 running Big Sur 11.3.1 (20E241)

This job consumes huge amounts of CPU off and on (see attached image from my Activity Monitor), often causing my laptop fans to engage to cool the processor. This is generally when the App itself (Anyconnect) is not running. The program launches automatically and relaunches every time I kill it, restart, etc. I have tried fancier things like removing the Cisco elements from launch directories etc, but it does not have any effect.

There are several discussions online about this problem, but none of the proposed solutions have helped me:

Stop Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client from starting up automatically

https://dannyda.com/2020/10/28/how-to-disable-cisco-anyconnect-secure-mobility-client-autostart-on-macos-stop-cisco-anyconnect-start-on-boot-on-macos/

I've tried all the solutions I've found online (including those in the above links), but nothing stops it. Only uninstalling AnyConnect works, but I need the Cisco VPN to work remotely with my organization.

Anyone worked this out (for real?)

t3s
cpu usage

Best Answer

Press Don't allow When Cisco asks Cisco AnyConnect Socket Filter” Would Like to Filter Network Content.

If you do so it creates Network Settings that automatically launches this CPU-consuming com.cisco.anyconnect.macos.acsockext.

To revert it :

  1. Go to System Preferences -> Network
  2. Observe several instances starting with Cisco.. next to Wi-Fi
  3. Delete all of them with - button beneath
  4. Press Apply
  5. If any Cisco instances appears again, delete it again; Press Apply
  6. Check for com.cisco.anyconnect.macos.acsockext in Activity Monitor and kill it if needed
  7. NEVER! Allow Cisco to Filter Network Content again (for some reason it lacks of Don't ask again checkbox)
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