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Fencer Vulns
critical 9.9

CVE-2019-11510 kev+ ransomware in the critical feed json

In Pulse Secure Pulse Connect Secure (PCS) 8.2 before 8.2R12.1, 8.3 before 8.3R7.1, and 9.0 before 9.0R3.4, an unauthenticated remote attac…

published 2019-05-08 7 y ago modified 2026-06-17 4 mo ago also EUVD-2019-3183

cvss
9.9
version 3.0, CNA
cisa kev
Exploited
added 2021-11-03, used in ransomware
epss
100.0%
EPSS 100.0% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 99.9%
public exploits
2
Metasploit, Exploit-DB, plus a Nuclei check

Summary

In Pulse Secure Pulse Connect Secure (PCS) 8.2 before 8.2R12.1, 8.3 before 8.3R7.1, and 9.0 before 9.0R3.4, an unauthenticated remote attacker can send a specially crafted URI to perform an arbitrary file reading vulnerability .

Patch / fix

cisa required action Apply updates per vendor instructions.

Timeline

  1. First public exploit (Metasploit auxiliary/gather/pulse_secure_file_disclosure)
  2. Published
  3. Added to CISA KEV
  4. CISA patch deadline
  5. CISA SSVC: exploitation active

Known exploited

Added
5 y ago
Patch by
2022-05-03 (4 y ago)
Ransomware
Known to be used in ransomware campaigns
Required action
Apply updates per vendor instructions.
Vendor, product
Ivanti, Pulse Connect Secure
CISA name
Ivanti Pulse Connect Secure Arbitrary File Read Vulnerability

Ransomware

Groups reported to have exploited it in intrusions.

  • REvil ransomware gang
  • Pioneer Kitten suspected state-sponsored

reported by tenable.comcisa.gov

Ransomware Vulnerability Matrix by BushidoUK (github.com/BushidoUK/Ransomware-Vulnerability-Matrix), reformatted per CVE. CC BY 4.0

ATT&CK techniques

How it is exploited and what it leads to, in MITRE ATT&CK terms.

  • T1133 External Remote Services exploitation
  • T1059 Command and Scripting Interpreter primary impact
  • T1083 File and Directory Discovery secondary impact
  • T1552.001 Credentials In Files secondary impact

kev release 2025-07-28, att&ck v16.1. KEV to ATT&CK mappings by the MITRE Center for Threat-Informed Defense (Mappings Explorer, Apache-2.0). © 2026 The MITRE Corporation. This work is reproduced and distributed with the permission of The MITRE Corporation. Terms of use

CISA SSVC

Exploitation
Active, exploited in the wild
Automatable
yes
Technical impact
total
Assessed
21 mo ago

Exploit prediction

100.00% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 99.9% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-08).

Exploits and checks

  • Metasploit auxiliary/gather/pulse_secure_file_disclosure Pulse Secure VPN Arbitrary File Disclosure metasploit auxiliary, normal rank, 2019-04-24
  • EDB-47297 Pulse Secure 8.1R15.1/8.2/8.3/9.0 SSL VPN - Arbitrary File Disclosure (Metasploit) webapps, 2019-08-21
  • Nuclei template Pulse Connect Secure SSL VPN Arbitrary File Read nuclei detection template
  • packetstormsecurity.com http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/154176/Pulse-Secure-SSL-VPN-8.1R15.1-8.2-8.3-9.0-Arbitrary-File-Disclosure.html referenced PoC, tagged "exploit" by a source, unverified
  • devco.re https://devco.re/blog/2019/09/02/attacking-ssl-vpn-part-3-the-golden-Pulse-Secure-ssl-vpn-rce-chain-with-Twitter-as-case-study/ referenced PoC, tagged "exploit" by a source, unverified

CVSS scores

assigned by version score vector
CNA 3.0 9.9 CVSS:3.0/AC:L/AV:N/A:H/C:H/I:H/PR:L/S:C/UI:N
NVD 3.1 10.0 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
CNA 3.0 9.9 CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
NVD 2.0 7.5 AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P

Classification

Weakness
  • CWE-22 Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory
Technology feeds

References

Sources

Fencer Vulns keeps one entry per vulnerability: the CVE id wins, then GHSA, and records that alias each other are merged, except that two CVEs always keep separate entries. The same data is available as JSON.