CVE-2016-4789
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedCross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in the system configuration section in the administrative user interface in Pulse Connect Secure (PCS) 8.2 before 8.2r1, 8.1 before 8.1r2, 8.0 before 8.0r9, and 7.4 before 7.4r13.4 allows remote attackers to inject arbitrary web script or HTML via unspecified vectors.
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · high confidenceA stored cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability exists in the system configuration section of the Pulse Connect Secure administrative web interface. Attackers can inject malicious JavaScript or HTML that executes when administrators access the compromised configuration area. This affects multiple version branches of PCS (7.4, 8.0, 8.1, 8.2) prior to their respective security releases.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE data= 8.1= 8.0= 8.2= 8.1r1.0= 7.4CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- Required
- Scope
- Changed
- Confidentiality
- Low
- Integrity
- Low
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify the installed Pulse Connect Secure versionLog into the admin web interface and navigate to System > Status, or use the command line: 'show system information' or check the /etc/version file on the applianceAffected if The version matches 7.4, 8.0, 8.1, or 8.2 (any release within these branches before the patched versions)
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Confirm administrative access to the web interfaceVerify you can reach the admin login page at the typical URL (usually /admin) on the Pulse Connect Secure deviceAffected if Administrative access is possible (this XSS only affects administrators viewing the system configuration section)
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Locate the system configuration sectionIn the admin web interface, navigate to System > Configuration or the equivalent system settings area where device-wide settings are managedAffected if This section is accessible and contains configuration options that accept user input (the vulnerability exists in this area)
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Verify if patches have been appliedCheck release notes or the system's patch level: look for version indicators such as 7.4r13.4, 8.0r9, 8.1r2, or 8.2r1 in the System > Status or About pageAffected if The system shows a version prior to these patched releases (unpatched systems are vulnerable)
You are affected if the installed version is 7.4, 8.0, 8.1, or 8.2 prior to their respective security patches AND you have administrative access to the system's configuration section in the web interface.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
From vendor dataApply the vendor-supplied patches (PCS 8.2r1, 8.1r2, 8.0r9, or 7.4r13.4) to resolve the vulnerability. After patching, verify the system configuration section properly sanitizes input.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2016-4789 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2016-4789 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.
- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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