CVE-2020-8222
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 · uneditedA path traversal vulnerability exists in Pulse Connect Secure <9.1R8 that allowed an authenticated attacker via the administrator web interface to perform an arbitrary file reading vulnerability through Meeting.
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 · moderate confidenceA path traversal vulnerability in Pulse Connect Secure versions prior to 9.1R8 allows an authenticated attacker with access to the administrator web interface to read arbitrary files on the underlying filesystem through the Meeting component by manipulating path traversal sequences in web requests.
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= 9.1<= 9.0= 9.1<= 9.0CVSS 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
- High
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Changed
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:N/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 installed Pulse Connect Secure versionAccess the admin web interface and navigate to System > Status or look for version information in the system diagnostics. Alternatively, check the release notes or the system banner shown after login.Affected if The installed version is 9.1 (any build) or any version 9.0 or lower.
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Identify installed Ivanti Connect Secure versionAccess the admin web interface and navigate to System > Status or check the system diagnostics page for the exact version number.Affected if The installed version is 9.1 (any build).
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Identify installed Policy Secure versionAccess the admin console and locate the version information typically found in System > Status or the About page.Affected if The installed version is 9.1 (any build) or any version 9.0 or lower.
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Determine if the Meeting component is enabledLog into the administrator interface and navigate to the Meeting or Collaboration settings section. Check if the Meeting feature is provisioned or active.Affected if The Meeting component is enabled and the version falls within the affected range.
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Verify administrator account accessReview User Authentication settings or Administrator accounts in the admin interface to confirm the presence of accounts with administrator-level privileges.Affected if Any administrator accounts exist, as the vulnerability requires authenticated access.
The environment is affected if running Pulse Connect Secure version 9.1 (any build) or <= 9.0, or Ivanti Policy Secure version 9.1 or <= 9.0, with the Meeting component enabled and at least one administrator account configured.
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 9.1R8 or later to remediate this vulnerability. As this is an authenticated attack vector, also review and limit administrator account access following the principle of least privilege.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-8222 — 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-2020-8222 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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