CVE-2019-11539In 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 8.1RX before 8.1R15.1…
- 8.0HighCVSS base score
- 98.5%Exploitation in 30 daysEPSS · top 0.1% of all CVEs
- YesKnown exploitedin CISA's KEV since 3 Nov 2021
- 3Public exploitsMetasploit, Nuclei and Exploit-DB
Description
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 8.1RX before 8.1R15.1 and Pulse Policy Secure version 9.0RX before 9.0R3.2, 5.4RX before 5.4R7.1, 5.3RX before 5.3R12.1, 5.2RX before 5.2R12.1, and 5.1RX before 5.1R15.1, the admin web interface allows an authenticated attacker to inject and execute commands.
Exploited in the wild
CISA lists this vulnerability in its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog as Ivanti Pulse Connect Secure and Policy Secure Command Injection Vulnerability.
- Added
- 3 Nov 2021
- Fix due (US federal)
- 3 May 2022
- Used by ransomware
- Known
Apply updates per vendor instructions.
ENISA's EU Vulnerability Database lists it as exploited, from CISA's KEV, since 3 Nov 2021.
Public exploit
An exploit or proof of concept is public: anyone can try it against an unpatched system. The public collections list a Metasploit module and 2 Exploit-DB entries for it. CISA's SSVC rates its exploitation: it is being exploited.
Show the exploits3
Metasploit modules1 module
- Pulse Secure VPN Arbitrary Command Execution (Metasploit module) (opens in a new tab)
exploit/linux/http/pulse_secure_cmd_execRank excellentdisclosed 24 Apr 2019
Exploit-DB2 entries
- Pulse Secure VPN - Arbitrary Command Execution (Metasploit) (Exploit-DB entry) (opens in a new tab)
EDB-ID 47700remote, multiplepublished 20 Nov 2019Verified
- Pulse Secure 8.1R15.1/8.2/8.3/9.0 SSL VPN - Remote Code Execution (Exploit-DB entry) (opens in a new tab)
EDB-ID 47354remote, multiplepublished 6 Sept 2019Not verified
Modules, templates and exploits as listed by the Metasploit Framework (BSD-3-Clause), ProjectDiscovery's Nuclei templates (MIT) and the Exploit Database (GPLv2), read once a day. Where the data comes from
Timeline
ID reserved
By mitre
- 1 day later
· 1 day later
Published
- 3 years later
· 3 years later
Added to CISA KEV
Known exploited, also by ransomware
- 4 years later
· 4 years later
Record updated
Changes after publication (a new score, a public exploit, EPSS crossing 1, 10 or 50 %, leaving KEV) are kept since November 2026; earlier ones are not known.
Scores
| Scored by | CVSS | Score | Vector |
|---|---|---|---|
| mitreCNA (assigner) | 3.0 | High8.0 | CVSS:3.0/AC:H/AV:N/A:H/C:H/I:H/PR:H/S:C/UI:N |
| NVDNVD · Analyzed | 3.1 | High7.2 | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H |
- EPSS (exploitation in 30 days)
- 98.5% · top 0.1% of all CVEs (14 Nov 2026)
- CISA SSVC
- Exploitation: active · Automatable: no · Technical impact: total
The list uses the assigner's score when there is one, then CISA's, then NVD's: High 8.0.
Affected products
n/a
- affected n/a
References
References10
- https://kb.pulsesecure.net/articles/Pulse_Security_Advisories/SA44101 (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_CONFIRMx_transferred
- 108073 (opens in a new tab)vdb-entryx_refsource_BIDx_transferred
- https://psirt.global.sonicwall.com/vuln-detail/SNWLID-2019-0010 (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_CONFIRMx_transferred
- https://i.blackhat.com/USA-19/Wednesday/us-19-Tsai-Infiltrating-Corporate-Intranet-Like-NSA.pdf (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_MISCx_transferred
- http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/154376/Pulse-Secure-8.1R15.1-8.2-8.3-9.0-SSL-VPN-Remote-Code-Execution.html (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_MISCx_transferred
- https://devco.re/blog/2019/09/02/attacking-ssl-vpn-part-3-the-golden-Pulse-Secure-ssl-vpn-rce-chain-with-Twitter-as-case-study/ (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_MISCx_transferred
- VU#927237 (opens in a new tab)third-party-advisoryx_refsource_CERT-VNx_transferred
- http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/155277/Pulse-Secure-VPN-Arbitrary-Command-Execution.html (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_MISCx_transferred
- http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/162092/Pulse-Secure-VPN-Arbitrary-Command-Execution.html (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_MISCx_transferred
- https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2019-11539 (opens in a new tab)government-resource
Sources
The same CVE in the primary databases and aggregators, to check against.
- CVE.org record (opens in a new tab)
- CVE List JSON (GitHub) (opens in a new tab)
- NVD (opens in a new tab)
- CISA KEV catalog (opens in a new tab)
- FIRST EPSS (opens in a new tab)
- EUVD EUVD-2019-3210 (opens in a new tab)
- OSV.dev (opens in a new tab)
- GitHub Advisories (opens in a new tab)
- CIRCL Vulnerability-Lookup (opens in a new tab)
Badge for a README or a ticket
[](https://cveledger.app/cve/CVE-2019-11539)Record last updated .