CVE-2021-22965
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 vulnerability in Pulse Connect Secure before 9.1R12.1 could allow an unauthenticated administrator to causes a denial of service when a malformed request is sent to the device.
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 denial of service vulnerability in Pulse Connect Secure versions prior to 9.1R12.1 allows an unauthenticated attacker to crash the device by sending a specially crafted malformed request to the affected system.
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< 9.1CVSS 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
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify Pulse Connect Secure installationAccess the admin web interface or check system documentation to confirm Pulse Connect Secure or Ivanti Connect Secure is deployedAffected if The product is Pulse Connect Secure or Ivanti Connect Secure
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Determine installed versionLog into the admin console and navigate to System > Status or check the /etc/version file on the appliance if SSH access is availableAffected if Unable to determine version or version cannot be verified
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Compare version against CVE affected rangeReview the version number: Ivanti Connect Secure version 9.1 is affected; Pulse Connect Secure versions below 9.1 are affected. The fixed version is 9.1R12.1Affected if Version is 9.1 (Ivanti) or any version below 9.1 (Pulse Connect Secure)
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Verify network exposureConfirm the Pulse Connect Secure web interface (typically ports 443, 8443) is accessible from network segments outside trusted administrator zonesAffected if The management interface is externally accessible without restrictions
If the installed version is Ivanti Connect Secure 9.1 or Pulse Connect Secure versions prior to 9.1R12.1 and the interface is network-accessible, the system is vulnerable to this DoS flaw.
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.
dbcve · scoped9.1
Upgrade Pulse Connect Secure to version 9.1R12.1 or later to remediate this vulnerability. If immediate patching is not feasible, consider implementing network-level access controls to limit exposure of the Pulse Connect Secure interface to trusted administrators only.
9.1R12.1 or later
- 1. Download the Pulse Connect Secure 9.1R12.1 or later patch from the official Pulse Secure support site (kb.pulsesecure.net)
- 2. Review the patch release notes for any prerequisites or special installation instructions
- 3. Back up the current device configuration
- 4. Upload and install the 9.1R12.1 patch via the admin web interface or CLI
- 5. Verify the patch was applied successfully and the device is functioning normally
- 6. Confirm the device is no longer vulnerable by checking the system information page for the updated version
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation4.0 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-2021-22965 — 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-2021-22965 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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