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Pulse Connect Secure CVE-2020-8220

MEDIUM
Uncontrolled Resource Consumption (CWE-400)
2020-07-30 support@hackerone.com
Denial Of Service Command Injection Ivanti Connect Secure Policy Secure Pulse Connect Secure Pulse Policy Secure Pulsesecure
6.5
CVSS 3.1 · NVD
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Vulnerability Assessment

Weakness
CWE
CWE-400
OWASP Top 10:2025
A06:2025 - Insecure Design
ASVS 5.0
V2 - Validation and Business Logic Resource consumption limits
MITRE ATT&CK

1 technique across 1 tactic: Impact

The technique list with ATT&CK links and the kill-chain view is part of the Basic plan and up.

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Impact

CVSS score of 6.5 (MEDIUM). Attack characteristics: network attack vector, low complexity, high privileges required, no user interaction not required.
Exploit ScenarioDerived

A remote attacker could cause denial of service by exhausting system resources by sending crafted requests to the affected application.
This Month Plan within 30 days. Why: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9).
No patch listed yet 2.5% exploitation probability (EPSS)

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AnalysisAI

A denial of service vulnerability exists in Pulse Connect Secure <9.1R8 that allows an authenticated attacker to perform command injection via the administrator web which can cause DOS. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. No vendor patch available.

RemediationAI

No vendor patch is available at time of analysis. Monitor vendor advisories for updates. Implement rate limiting, set resource quotas, validate input sizes, use timeouts.

Affects your stack

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Technical ContextAI · show details

This vulnerability is classified as Uncontrolled Resource Consumption (CWE-400), which allows attackers to cause denial of service by exhausting system resources. A denial of service vulnerability exists in Pulse Connect Secure <9.1R8 that allows an authenticated attacker to perform command injection via the administrator web which can cause DOS. Affected products include: Ivanti Connect Secure, Pulsesecure Pulse Connect Secure, Ivanti Policy Secure, Pulsesecure Pulse Policy Secure.

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  • Exploit and PoC references, threat intelligence from 22 sources
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Severity by source

NVD PRIMARY 6.5 MEDIUM
AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:H

Primary rating from NVD · only source for this CVE.

CVSS VectorNVD

Attack Vector
Network
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
High
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
High
Availability
High

DescriptionNVD

A denial of service vulnerability exists in Pulse Connect Secure <9.1R8 that allows an authenticated attacker to perform command injection via the administrator web which can cause DOS.

Threat Intelligence Overview

EPSS Score
2.5%
Top 17% exploitable
Data Quality
2 sources
Confidence: Low
NVD CVE.org EPSS

How this decision was reached

The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.

SignalValue
Severity MEDIUM
CISA KEV No
Public POC No
EPSS 2.5%
Patch available No
Active threat No
Deciding rule
MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9)
What every action level means
Emergency Immediate action required. Criteria: CRITICAL + in CISA KEV (actively exploited) without patch, OR CRITICAL + EPSS > 30% without patch, OR CRITICAL + active threat signals without patch.
Act Now Prioritize within 24-48h. Criteria: in KEV with patch available, OR CRITICAL + public POC, OR HIGH + EPSS > 10%, OR CRITICAL + active threat, OR any CRITICAL severity.
This Week Schedule remediation this week. Criteria: HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9). Patch within normal change window.
This Month Plan within 30 days. Criteria: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9), lower exploitation probability. Include in regular patch cycle.
Monitor Track and reassess. Criteria: LOW severity (CVSS 0.1-3.9), minimal exploitation risk. No immediate action needed.

SSVC AssessmentENISA

SSVC Decision· derived
Scheduled
Exploitation· derived
None
System Exposure· derived
Open
Automatable· derived
No
Human Impact· derived
Medium

Priority Score

34
Low Medium High Critical
KEV: 0
EPSS: +2
CVSS: +32
PoC: 0
Weaponized: 0
Threat intel: 0
Gov advisory: 0

Attack Technique

OS Command Injection CRITICAL

OS command injection occurs when an application passes unsanitized user input directly into system shell commands.

Denial of Service MEDIUM

Denial of Service attacks render applications or systems unavailable by overwhelming resources or triggering failure conditions.

Affected Products (CPE)NVD

cpe:2.3:a:ivanti:connect_secure:9.1:-:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:ivanti:connect_secure:9.1:r1:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:ivanti:connect_secure:9.1:r2:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:ivanti:connect_secure:9.1:r3:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:ivanti:connect_secure:9.1:r4:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:ivanti:connect_secure:9.1:r4.1:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:ivanti:connect_secure:9.1:r4.2:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:ivanti:connect_secure:9.1:r4.3:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:ivanti:connect_secure:9.1:r5:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:ivanti:connect_secure:9.1:r6:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:ivanti:connect_secure:9.1:r7:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:pulsesecure:pulse_connect_secure:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:ivanti:policy_secure:9.1:-:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:ivanti:policy_secure:9.1:r1:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:ivanti:policy_secure:9.1:r2:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:ivanti:policy_secure:9.1:r3:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:ivanti:policy_secure:9.1:r3.1:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:ivanti:policy_secure:9.1:r4:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:ivanti:policy_secure:9.1:r4.1:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:ivanti:policy_secure:9.1:r4.2:*:*:*:*:*:*
+ 4 more

More in Pulse Connect Secure

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CVE-2019-11540 CRITICAL POC
9.8 Apr 26

In Pulse Secure Pulse Connect Secure version 9.0RX before 9.0R3.4 and 8.3RX before 8.3R7.1 and Pulse Policy Secure versi
CVE-2020-11580 CRITICAL POC
9.1 Apr 06

An issue was discovered in Pulse Secure Pulse Connect Secure (PCS) through 2020-04-06. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.1
CVE-2020-11582 HIGH POC
8.8 Apr 06

An issue was discovered in Pulse Secure Pulse Connect Secure (PCS) through 2020-04-06. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.8), t
CVE-2018-18284 HIGH POC
8.6 Oct 19

Artifex Ghostscript 9.25 and earlier allows attackers to bypass a sandbox protection mechanism via vectors involving the
CVE-2020-11581 HIGH POC
8.1 Apr 06

An issue was discovered in Pulse Secure Pulse Connect Secure (PCS) through 2020-04-06. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.1), t
CVE-2019-11508 HIGH POC
7.2 May 08

In Pulse Secure Pulse Connect Secure (PCS) before 8.1R15.1, 8.2 before 8.2R12.1, 8.3 before 8.3R7.1, and 9.0 before 9.0R
CVE-2019-11542 HIGH POC
7.2 Apr 26

In Pulse Secure Pulse Connect Secure version 9.0RX before 9.0R3.4, 8.3RX before 8.3R7.1, 8.2RX before 8.2R12.1, and 8.1R
CVE-2016-4787 CRITICAL
10.0 May 26

Pulse Connect Secure (PCS) 8.2 before 8.2r1, 8.1 before 8.1r2, 8.0 before 8.0r10, and 7.4 before 7.4r13.4 allow remote a
CVE-2020-8238 MEDIUM POC
6.1 Sep 30

A vulnerability in the authenticated user web interface of Pulse Connect Secure and Pulse Policy Secure < 9.1R8.2 could

CVE-2018-6320 CRITICAL
9.8 Sep 06

A vulnerability has been discovered in login.cgi in Pulse Secure Pulse Connect Secure (PCS) 8.1RX before 8.1R12 and 8.3R
CVE-2018-5299 CRITICAL
9.8 Jan 16

A stack-based Buffer Overflow Vulnerability exists in the web server in Pulse Secure Pulse Connect Secure (PCS) before 8
CVE-2015-7322 MEDIUM POC
5.0 Oct 05

The Secure Meeting (Pulse Collaboration) in Pulse Connect Secure (formerly Juniper Junos Pulse) before 7.1R22.1, 7.4, 8.

Same weakness CWE-400 – Uncontrolled Resource Consumption

View all
CVE-2023-44487 HIGH POC
7.5
CVE-2021-21341 HIGH POC
7.5
CVE-2022-29885 HIGH POC
7.5
CVE-2026-45498 HIGH POC
7.5
CVE-2016-8610 HIGH
7.5
CVE-2026-28318 HIGH POC
7.5
CVE-2023-38180 HIGH
7.5
CVE-2025-26673 HIGH
7.5

Same technique Denial Of Service

View all
CVE-2015-5119 CRITICAL POC
9.8
CVE-2011-2462 CRITICAL POC
9.8
CVE-2011-0611 HIGH POC
8.8
CVE-2012-1889 HIGH POC
8.8
CVE-2012-0507 CRITICAL POC
9.8
CVE-2014-1761 HIGH POC
7.8
CVE-2015-5122 CRITICAL POC
9.8
CVE-2011-0609 HIGH POC
7.8

References

Advisories & patches
ADVISORY https://kb.pulsesecure.net/articles/Pulse_Security_Advisories/SA44516

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