CVE-2018-20808
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 · uneditedAn XSS issue has been found with rd.cgi in Pulse Secure Pulse Connect Secure 8.3RX before 8.3R3 due to improper header sanitization. This is not applicable to 8.1RX.
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 cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability exists in rd.cgi of Pulse Secure Pulse Connect Secure versions 8.3RX prior to 8.3R3. The vulnerability stems from improper sanitization of HTTP headers, allowing attackers to inject malicious scripts that execute in the context of legitimate users' sessions when the vulnerable component processes crafted headers.
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= 8.3CVSS 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 product and versionAccess the admin console or check system information to determine if Pulse Connect Secure (now Ivanti Connect Secure) is installed. Look for version information in the system settings or about page.Affected if The installed version is 8.3 through 8.3R2 (any 8.3RX version prior to 8.3R3)
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Confirm rd.cgi endpoint existsCheck the web server configuration or attempt to access the /rd.cgi endpoint on the device. This is typically found in the /etc/httpd/conf.d/ or similar web directory.Affected if The rd.cgi script is present on the system and accessible via HTTP/HTTPS
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Verify web interface is enabledConfirm that the Pulse Connect Secure web interface (Administrative UI or end-user UI) is enabled and accessible. This is required for the vulnerable component to process requests.Affected if The web interface is enabled and the device is reachable over the network
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Check for HTTP header processingReview configuration or logs to confirm that the rd.cgi component processes HTTP headers. This is the normal behavior of this endpoint, but can be verified by examining access logs when the endpoint is accessed.Affected if The rd.cgi endpoint processes incoming HTTP requests and headers normally
A system is affected if it runs Pulse Connect Secure version 8.3 through 8.3R2 and has the rd.cgi endpoint accessible via 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 dataUpgrade Pulse Connect Secure to version 8.3R3 or later to obtain the vendor patch for this XSS vulnerability. If immediate upgrade is not feasible, restrict access to the rd.cgi endpoint via network-level controls until the patch can be applied.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation6.0 h
- Testing8.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-20808 — 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-2018-20808 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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- 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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