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Connect SecureApplication · Ivanti

CVE-2019-11213

HIGH · 8.1 CVSS v3.0 Published 2019-04-12
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 5.3r7 / 8.3r7 or later.
See remediation →
90/100
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
In Pulse Secure Pulse Desktop Client and Network Connect, an attacker could access session tokens to replay and spoof sessions, and as a result, gain unauthorized access as an end user, a related issue to CVE-2019-1573. (The endpoint would need to be already compromised for exploitation to succeed.) This affects Pulse Desktop Client 5.x before Secure Desktop 5.3R7 and Pulse Desktop Client 9.x before Secure Desktop 9.0R3. It also affects (for Network Connect customers) Pulse Connect Secure 8.1 before 8.1R14, 8.3 before 8.3R7, and 9.0 before 9.0R3.

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

This is a session token replay vulnerability in Pulse Secure Pulse Desktop Client and Network Connect. An attacker who has already compromised the endpoint can capture and replay session tokens to spoof legitimate user sessions, thereby gaining unauthorized access as an end user. The vulnerability stems from improper session token handling.

MitigationUpdate to the patched versions: Pulse Desktop Client 5.3R7 or 9.0R3 and later, or Pulse Connect Secure 8.1R14, 8.3R7, 9.0R3 or later. Since exploitation requires a compromised endpoint, endpoint protection and incident response capabilities should also be strengthened.

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:>= 9.0r1, < 9.0r3
Pulse Connect SecureApplication
Affected:>= 8.1r1.0, <= 8.1r14.0>= 8.3r1, < 8.3r7
Pulse Secure Desktop ClientApplication
Affected:>= 5.0r1.0, < 5.3r7>= 9.0r1, < 9.0r3

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
High
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/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 Pulse Secure product
    Check Programs and Features or use 'rpm -qa | grep pulse' (Linux) / 'reg query HKLM\Software\Pulse Secure' (Windows) to find which Pulse Secure client is installed
    Affected if Any of these products are present: Pulse Connect Secure, Pulse Secure Desktop Client, or Ivanti Connect Secure
  2. Determine Pulse Secure Desktop Client version
    On Windows check 'C:\Program Files\Pulse Secure\Pulse\conf\version.txt' or right-click the Pulse Secure icon > About. On Linux run 'rpm -qa | grep -i pulse'
    Affected if Version is >= 5.0r1.0 and < 5.3r7, OR >= 9.0r1 and < 9.0r3
  3. Determine Pulse Connect Secure or Ivanti Connect Secure version
    Access admin console > System > Status > Version, or check the system banner on the login page
    Affected if For Connect Secure: version >= 8.1r1.0 and <= 8.1r14.0, OR >= 8.3r1 and < 8.3r7. For Ivanti: version >= 9.0r1 and < 9.0r3
  4. Verify if session token reuse is possible
    Review network logs or VPN session files in the client profile directory for stored session tokens. On Windows check %APPDATA%\Pulse Secure\Ice\tunnel\ and %APPDATA%\Pulse Secure\Ice\profiles\
    Affected if Unencrypted or reusable session tokens are found in local client directories

Your environment is affected if you have Pulse Secure Desktop Client, Pulse Connect Secure, or Ivanti Connect Secure installed with a version falling within the affected ranges listed above, and the client stores session tokens locally.

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
Upgrade available Upgrade to 5.3r7 / 8.3r7 / 9.0r3 or later
Fixed in 5.3r78.3r79.0r3
Interim mitigation

Update to the patched versions: Pulse Desktop Client 5.3R7 or 9.0R3 and later, or Pulse Connect Secure 8.1R14, 8.3R7, 9.0R3 or later. Since exploitation requires a compromised endpoint, endpoint protection and incident response capabilities should also be strengthened.

Fix this in Connect Secure Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
16.0 hours of engineering $2,840
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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-2019-11213 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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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