dbcve.org
Connect SecureApplication · Ivanti

CVE-2018-6320

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2018-09-06
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

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
A vulnerability has been discovered in login.cgi in Pulse Secure Pulse Connect Secure (PCS) 8.1RX before 8.1R12 and 8.3RX before 8.3R2 and Pulse Policy Secure (PPS) 5.2RX before 5.2R9 and 5.4RX before 5.4R2 wherein an http(s) Host header received from the browser is trusted without validation.

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

A Host Header Injection vulnerability exists in login.cgi of Pulse Secure Pulse Connect Secure and Pulse Policy Secure appliances where the HTTP Host header from incoming requests is blindly trusted without validation, potentially allowing attackers to manipulate the Host value for cache poisoning, password reset poisoning, or XSS attacks.

MitigationUpgrade to the fixed versions (PCS 8.1R12/8.3R2 or PPS 5.2R9/5.4R2) or implement strict validation of the HTTP Host header in login.cgi to only allow whitelisted values.

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= 8.1rx= 8.3rx
Pulse Policy SecureApplication
Affected:= 5.2r1.0= 5.2r2.0= 5.2r3.0= 5.2r3.2= 5.2r4.0= 5.2r5.0= 5.2r6.0= 5.2r7.0= 5.2r7.1= 5.2r8.0= 5.2rx= 5.4r1

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
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/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
    Access the admin console or use system information commands (e.g., 'get system' or 'show version') to determine if the device is running Pulse Connect Secure or Pulse Policy Secure and note the exact version number
    Affected if The version matches 8.1r1.0, 8.1rx, 8.3rx (PCS) or any version from 5.2r1.0 through 5.4r1 (PPS), or is exactly 8.1 (Ivanti Connect Secure)
  2. Confirm login.cgi endpoint exists
    Verify that the login.cgi script is present and accessible on the appliance by checking the web root directory or attempting to access the login page via HTTP/HTTPS
    Affected if login.cgi is present and accessible, indicating the vulnerable component is enabled
  3. Check for Host header validation
    Send a test HTTP request to login.cgi with a manipulated Host header (e.g., Host: attacker.com) and observe whether the response reflects the injected value or processes it without validation
    Affected if The Host header value is accepted and reflected in the response without sanitization or rejection, indicating the vulnerability is present

The environment is affected if the installed version matches any of the listed affected version ranges AND the login.cgi endpoint is accessible without Host header validation in place.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Upgrade to the fixed versions (PCS 8.1R12/8.3R2 or PPS 5.2R9/5.4R2) or implement strict validation of the HTTP Host header in login.cgi to only allow whitelisted values.

Recommended fix High confidence

8.1R12 (for PCS 8.1RX), 8.3R2 (for PCS 8.3RX), 5.2R9 (for PPS 5.2RX), 5.4R2 (for PPS 5.4RX)

  1. 1. Identify the exact product version running (Pulse Connect Secure or Pulse Policy Secure)
  2. 2. For Pulse Connect Secure 8.1RX: Upgrade to version 8.1R12 or later
  3. 3. For Pulse Connect Secure 8.3RX: Upgrade to version 8.3R2 or later
  4. 4. For Pulse Policy Secure 5.2RX: Upgrade to version 5.2R9 or later
  5. 5. For Pulse Policy Secure 5.4RX: Upgrade to version 5.4R2 or later
  6. 6. Download the patch from kb.pulsesecure.net and follow the standard upgrade procedure
  7. 7. After upgrade, verify the login.cgi properly validates HTTP Host headers
Caveat Standard upgrade precautions apply - backup configuration before upgrading

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Connect Secure Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
11.0 hours of engineering $1,930
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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-2018-6320 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