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Connect SecureApplication · Ivanti

CVE-2017-11455

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2017-08-29
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
95/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges

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 · unedited
diag.cgi in Pulse Connect Secure 8.2R1 through 8.2R5, 8.1R1 through 8.1R10 and Pulse Policy Secure 5.3R1 through 5.3R5, 5.2R1 through 5.2R8, and 5.1R1 through 5.1R10 allow remote attackers to hijack the authentication of administrators for requests to start tcpdump, related to the lack of anti-CSRF tokens.

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 confidence

The diag.cgi script in Pulse Connect Secure and Pulse Policy Secure lacks anti-CSRF token validation, allowing remote attackers to hijack authenticated administrator sessions by tricking them into visiting malicious pages. This enables unauthorized execution of the tcpdump network packet capture utility, potentially exposing sensitive network traffic.

MitigationApply vendor-supplied patches for the affected versions (8.2R6+, 8.1R11+, 5.3R6+, 5.2R9+, 5.1R11+) and implement anti-CSRF tokens across all state-changing operations in the web interface. Consider network segmentation to limit exposure of administrative interfaces.

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
Connect SecureApplication
Affected:= 8.1
Pulse Connect SecureApplication
Affected:= 8.1r1.0= 8.2r1.0= 8.2r1.1= 8.2r2.0= 8.2r3.0= 8.2r3.1= 8.2r4.0= 8.2r4.1= 8.2r5.0
Pulse Policy SecureApplication
Affected:= 5.1r1.0= 5.1r1.1= 5.1r2.0= 5.1r2.1= 5.1r3.0= 5.1r3.2= 5.1r4.0= 5.1r5.0= 5.1r6.0= 5.1r7.0= 5.1r7.1= 5.1r8.0

CVSS 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
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify installed product and version
    Log into the administrative web interface and navigate to System > Status or System > Administration > System Snapshot to view the firmware version. Alternatively, check the login page source or the header/footer of any admin page for version information.
    Affected if The version matches one of the affected versions: 8.1, 8.1r1.0, 8.2r1.0 through 8.2r5.0 for Connect Secure; or 5.1r1.0 through 5.1r8.0 for Policy Secure.
  2. Confirm the diag.cgi endpoint is accessible
    Attempt to access the /dana/cached/diag.cgi endpoint on the device. This can be tested via a simple HTTP GET request to the device's hostname or IP address with the path /dana/cached/diag.cgi.
    Affected if The endpoint returns a response (200 OK) rather than a 404 or access denied error, indicating the diagnostic interface is exposed.
  3. Verify administrative interface is reachable
    Confirm the Pulse Connect Secure or Pulse Policy Secure admin web interface is accessible on the standard ports (443 for HTTPS). Check if the login page loads at /admin/ or /dana-na/.
    Affected if The administrative interface is exposed to network access, particularly if accessible from untrusted networks.
  4. Review system logs for tcpdump execution
    Check the device system logs or diagnostic logs for entries indicating execution of the tcpdump utility. On the device, examine /var/log/messages or the admin interface logs under Maintenance > Troubleshooting > Logs.
    Affected if Logs show tcpdump commands that were not initiated by an authenticated administrator, indicating possible exploitation.
  5. Inspect for unauthorized network packet capture files
    Check the file system for newly created packet capture files in common diagnostic directories, such as /tmp or /var/tmp, that may have been generated through the diag.cgi vulnerability.
    Affected if Packet capture files (.pcap, .cap) exist that were not created by known administrative activities.

You are affected if your installed version matches any of the listed affected versions (8.1 through 8.2r5.0 for Connect Secure, or 5.1r1.0 through 5.1r8.0 for Policy Secure) AND the administrative web interface with the diag.cgi endpoint is accessible.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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 data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Apply vendor-supplied patches for the affected versions (8.2R6+, 8.1R11+, 5.3R6+, 5.2R9+, 5.1R11+) and implement anti-CSRF tokens across all state-changing operations in the web interface. Consider network segmentation to limit exposure of administrative interfaces.

Fix this in Connect Secure Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation6.0 h
  • Implementation16.0 h
  • Testing12.0 h
  • Review / QA6.0 h
40.0 hours of engineering $6,960
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2017-11455 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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.

What belongs here
  • 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
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data