CVEs / CVE-2021-22893
CVE-2021-22893: Ivanti Pulse Connect Secure Use-After-Free Vulnerability
- Known exploited in the CISA KEV catalog since 3 Nov 2021
- critical 10 CVSS 3.1 (NVD)
- EPSS 47.1% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 98% of CVEs (30 Oct 2026)
- Last changed at its sources
Are you affected? Check your servers with Stackurity: it lists the software on each server and the vulnerabilities to fix first.
Check your servers with Stackurity Already using Stackurity? Search for CVE-2021-22893
Summary
Ivanti Pulse Connect Secure contains a use-after-free vulnerability that allow a remote, unauthenticated attacker to execute code via license services.
Description
Pulse Connect Secure 9.0R3/9.1R1 and higher is vulnerable to an authentication bypass vulnerability exposed by the Windows File Share Browser and Pulse Secure Collaboration features of Pulse Connect Secure that can allow an unauthenticated user to perform remote arbitrary code execution on the Pulse Connect Secure gateway. This vulnerability has been exploited in the wild.
Affected and fixed versions
| Product | Affected | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
| n/a Pulse Connect Secure | PCS 9.0R3 or above, PCS 9.1R1 and above | — |
Exploitation
| In CISA KEV since | 3 Nov 2021 |
|---|---|
| Due date for US federal agencies | 3 May 2022 |
| Used in ransomware campaigns | Known |
| Required action | Apply updates per vendor instructions. |
Severity
| CVSS 3.1 | 10 criticalCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:HScored by NVD |
|---|---|
| Weakness | CWE-287, CWE-416 |
References
- CVE-2021-22893 on NVD
- CVE-2021-22893 in the CISA KEV catalog
- https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/directives/ed-21-03-mitigate-pulse-connect-secure-product-vulnerabilities (cited by CISA)
- https://blog.pulsesecure.net/pulse-connect-secure-security-update/ Vendor Advisory
- https://kb.cert.org/vuls/id/213092 Third Party Advisory, US Government Resource
- https://kb.pulsesecure.net/articles/Pulse_Security_Advisories/SA44784/ Broken Link, Vendor Advisory
- https://www.fireeye.com/blog/threat-research/2021/04/suspected-apt-actors-leverage-bypass-techniques-pulse-secure-zero-day.html Third Party Advisory
- https://www.kb.cert.org/vuls/id/213092 US Government Resource
- https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2021-22893 US Government Resource
Sources
Exploitation status from the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. EPSS scores from FIRST. Descriptions, severity and references from the National Vulnerability Database. Open-source package versions from OSV (CC-BY 4.0). Text is shown as each source states it; Stackurity does not edit it. Check the vendor's advisory before acting.
This product uses data from the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD.