CVE-2020-8218 — Pulse Connect Secure Code Injection Vulnerability

A code injection vulnerability exists in Pulse Connect Secure <9.1R8 that allows an attacker to crafted a URI to perform an arbitrary code execution via the admin web interface.

01What is this vulnerability?

A code injection vulnerability exists in Pulse Connect Secure <9.1R8 that allows an attacker to crafted a URI to perform an arbitrary code execution via the admin web interface.

02Affected products

Vendor	Product	Versions
n	a / Pulse Connect Secure	Fixed in 9.1R8

03Active exploitation status

Yes — actively exploited. Added to the CISA KEV catalog on 2022-03-07. Ransomware use: Unknown.

04Recommended remediation

• Patch to a fixed version listed in the vendor advisory (see references below).
• Mitigate with WAF rules, network egress filters, or feature flags where the patch is not yet available.
• Hunt historical logs for exploitation indicators — see Detection signatures below.

05Technical details

For the full vendor write-up, exploit chains, and reference implementations, see the references list in section 09.

06Detection signatures

Open the Sigma generator with a pre-filled prompt for this CVE to draft a starting detection in your stack of choice:

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07Related CVEs

No directly-cited follow-up CVEs in the KB record for this advisory. The references list in section 09 carries the vendor cross-references.

08Timeline

• Published: 2020-07-30T12:53:02.000Z
• Last modified: 2025-10-21T23:35:38.731Z
• Added to CISA KEV: 2022-03-07
• BOD 22-01 due: 2022-09-07

09References

• kb.pulsesecure.net — https://kb.pulsesecure.net/articles/Pulse_Security_Advisories/SA44516
• www.gosecure.net — https://www.gosecure.net/blog/2020/11/13/forget-your-perimeter-part-2-four-vulne…