dbcve.org
Connect SecureApplication · Ivanti

CVE-2021-44720

HIGH · 7.2 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-08-12
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 9.1 or later.
See remediation →
78/100
Remediation priority · High
Remotely reachable 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 Ivanti Pulse Secure Pulse Connect Secure (PCS) before 9.1R12, the administrator password is stored in the HTML source code of the "Maintenance > Push Configuration > Targets > Target Name" targets.cgi screen. A read-only administrative user can escalate to a read-write administrative role.

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

In Ivanti Pulse Secure Pulse Connect Secure before version 9.1R12, the administrator password is exposed in plaintext within the HTML source code of the Maintenance > Push Configuration > Targets > Target Name screen (targets.cgi). This allows any user with read-only administrative access to obtain the full administrator credentials and escalate privileges to a read-write administrative role.

MitigationUpgrade Ivanti Pulse Secure Pulse Connect Secure to version 9.1R12 or later to remediate this vulnerability.

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:= 9.1
Pulse Connect SecureApplication
Affected:< 9.1

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

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/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 the installed product and version
    Access the admin web interface and check the system status page, or use the command line 'get system version' on the device
    Affected if The version is 9.1 (Ivanti Connect Secure) or any version below 9.1 (Pulse Connect Secure)
  2. Verify web interface access
    Log into the Pulse Connect Secure or Ivanti Connect Secure admin web interface with any administrative account (including read-only)
    Affected if A valid administrator session can be established
  3. Navigate to the vulnerable page
    Browse to Maintenance > Push Configuration > Targets and select any configured Target Name
    Affected if The targets.cgi page loads successfully
  4. Inspect HTML source for plaintext password
    View the page source (right-click > View Page Source or Ctrl+U) and search for password-related fields or look for plaintext credential strings in the HTML
    Affected if The administrator password appears in plaintext within the HTML source code of the targets page

You are affected if your version is 9.1 (Ivanti Connect Secure) or below 9.1 (Pulse Connect Secure) AND you can access the Maintenance > Push Configuration > Targets screen where the admin password is visible in plaintext in the HTML source.

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
Upgrade available Upgrade to 9.1 or later
Fixed in 9.1
Interim mitigation

Upgrade Ivanti Pulse Secure Pulse Connect Secure to version 9.1R12 or later to remediate this vulnerability.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

9.1R12 or later

  1. 1. Check the current version of Pulse Connect Secure or Connect Secure by navigating to System > Status > System Info
  2. 2. Download Ivanti Pulse Connect Secure version 9.1R12 or later from the official Ivanti support portal
  3. 3. Backup the current configuration from Maintenance > System > Upgrade/Backup
  4. 4. Upload and install the upgrade package from Maintenance > System > Upgrade/Backup > Upgrade
  5. 5. After upgrade, verify the version is 9.1R12 or later and confirm the password is no longer exposed in the HTML source
Caveat Review Ivanti release notes for any configuration or feature changes between your current version and 9.1R12

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

Fix this in Connect Secure Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
14.0 hours of engineering $2,480
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,968.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-44720 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

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-2021-44720 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

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