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Application Delivery Controller FirmwareOperating system · Citrix

CVE-2020-8245

MEDIUM · 6.1 CVSS v3.1 Published 2020-09-18
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 11.1-65.12 / 12.1-58.15 or later.
See remediation →
68/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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
Improper Input Validation on Citrix ADC and Citrix Gateway 13.0 before 13.0-64.35, Citrix ADC and NetScaler Gateway 12.1 before 12.1-58.15, Citrix ADC 12.1-FIPS before 12.1-55.187, Citrix ADC and NetScaler Gateway 12.0, Citrix ADC and NetScaler Gateway 11.1 before 11.1-65.12, Citrix SD-WAN WANOP 11.2 before 11.2.1a, Citrix SD-WAN WANOP 11.1 before 11.1.2a, Citrix SD-WAN WANOP 11.0 before 11.0.3f, Citrix SD-WAN WANOP 10.2 before 10.2.7b leads to an HTML Injection attack against the SSL VPN web portal.

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

Improper input validation in Citrix ADC and Citrix Gateway SSL VPN web portal allows remote attackers to inject malicious HTML code through unsanitized user inputs. This HTML injection can be used to conduct phishing attacks, steal session cookies, or deface the login page.

MitigationApply the vendor-supplied patches for affected versions (13.0-64.35, 12.1-58.15, 11.1-65.12, or respective SD-WAN WANOP updates). If immediate patching is not possible, implement web application firewall rules to sanitize or block HTML/script tags in portal inputs.

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
Application Delivery Controller FirmwareOperating system
Affected:>= 11.1, < 11.1-65.12>= 12.1, < 12.1-58.15>= 13.0, < 13.0-64.35
GatewayApplication
Affected:>= 11.1, < 11.1-65.12>= 13.0, < 13.0-64.35
Netscaler GatewayApplication
Affected:>= 12.1, < 12.1-58.15

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
Changed
Confidentiality
Low
Integrity
Low
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/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 checks

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

  1. Identify product and firmware version
    Access the Citrix device CLI and run 'show version' or use the web interface under 'System > Information > Version' to identify the product model and firmware version
    Affected if The device is Citrix ADC, Citrix Gateway, or Netscaler Gateway with firmware version matching: 11.1 before 11.1-65.12, 12.1 before 12.1-58.15, or 13.0 before 13.0-64.35
  2. Confirm SSL VPN web portal is enabled
    In the Citrix CLI, run 'show vpn vserver' or check the web interface under 'SSL VPN > Virtual Servers' to determine if an SSL VPN virtual server is configured and enabled
    Affected if An SSL VPN web portal virtual server is configured and active on the device
  3. Verify the device is exposed to untrusted networks
    Review the SSL VPN virtual server bind points and firewall policies using 'show vpn vserver' and 'show ipsec protocol' to confirm the portal is accessible from external/untrusted networks
    Affected if The SSL VPN portal is reachable from the internet or untrusted networks without a compensating control like a WAF in front of it
  4. Check for input validation configurations
    Review the SSL VPN portal configuration for any custom input sanitization or WAF profiles applied. Use 'show vpn parameter' and review any 'nswebapp' or WAF profile bindings
    Affected if No WAF or input validation profiles are configured to sanitize HTML/script inputs in the VPN portal login page

A user is affected if they are running a vulnerable Citrix ADC, Gateway, or Netscaler Gateway firmware version with an exposed SSL VPN web portal that lacks input sanitization or WAF protection.

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 11.1-65.12 / 12.1-58.15 / 13.0-64.35 or later
Fixed in 11.1-65.1212.1-58.1513.0-64.35
Interim mitigation

Apply the vendor-supplied patches for affected versions (13.0-64.35, 12.1-58.15, 11.1-65.12, or respective SD-WAN WANOP updates). If immediate patching is not possible, implement web application firewall rules to sanitize or block HTML/script tags in portal inputs.

Fix this in Application Delivery Controller Firmware Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
12.0 hours of engineering $2,130
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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-2020-8245 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