CVE-2020-12880

An issue was discovered in Pulse Policy Secure (PPS) and Pulse Connect Secure (PCS) Virtual Appliance before 9.1R8. By manipulating a certain kernel boot parameter, it can be tricked into dropping into a root shell in a pre-install phase where the entire source code of the appliance is available and can be retrieved. (The source code is otherwise inaccessible because the appliance has its hard disks encrypted, and no root shell is available during normal operation.)

Published: 2020-07-27 Last update: 2024-11-21 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2020-12880 is rated Low Risk (29.1/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.08%). Monitor for updates and reassess as exploit intelligence or EPSS changes.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2020-12880

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2025-03-30 0.21% 0.08% -0.13%
2 2025-03-29 0.08% 0.21% +0.13%
3 2025-03-17 — 0.08% —

Full EPSS history (8 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2020-12880

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
5.5 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.
 1.8 3.6 [email protected]
2.1 2.0 LOW
AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:N Click to expand
Access vector (AV:L)
Requires local access to the target system.
Access complexity (AC:L)
Exploitation conditions are straightforward and predictable.
Authentication (AU:N)
No authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:P)
Partial confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:N)
No integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:N)
No availability impact.
 3.9 2.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2020-12880

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2020-12880

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
ivanti connect_secure 9.1 cpe:2.3:a:ivanti:connect_secure:9.1:-:*:*:*:*:*:*
ivanti connect_secure 9.1 cpe:2.3:a:ivanti:connect_secure:9.1:r1:*:*:*:*:*:*
ivanti connect_secure 9.1 cpe:2.3:a:ivanti:connect_secure:9.1:r2:*:*:*:*:*:*
ivanti connect_secure 9.1 cpe:2.3:a:ivanti:connect_secure:9.1:r3:*:*:*:*:*:*
ivanti connect_secure 9.1 cpe:2.3:a:ivanti:connect_secure:9.1:r4:*:*:*:*:*:*
ivanti connect_secure 9.1 cpe:2.3:a:ivanti:connect_secure:9.1:r4.1:*:*:*:*:*:*
ivanti connect_secure 9.1 cpe:2.3:a:ivanti:connect_secure:9.1:r4.2:*:*:*:*:*:*
ivanti connect_secure 9.1 cpe:2.3:a:ivanti:connect_secure:9.1:r4.3:*:*:*:*:*:*
ivanti connect_secure 9.1 cpe:2.3:a:ivanti:connect_secure:9.1:r5:*:*:*:*:*:*
ivanti connect_secure 9.1 cpe:2.3:a:ivanti:connect_secure:9.1:r6:*:*:*:*:*:*
ivanti connect_secure 9.1 cpe:2.3:a:ivanti:connect_secure:9.1:r7:*:*:*:*:*:*
pulsesecure pulse_connect_secure <= 9.0 cpe:2.3:a:pulsesecure:pulse_connect_secure:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
ivanti policy_secure 9.1 cpe:2.3:a:ivanti:policy_secure:9.1:r1:*:*:*:*:*:*
ivanti policy_secure 9.1 cpe:2.3:a:ivanti:policy_secure:9.1:r2:*:*:*:*:*:*
ivanti policy_secure 9.1 cpe:2.3:a:ivanti:policy_secure:9.1:r3:*:*:*:*:*:*
ivanti policy_secure 9.1 cpe:2.3:a:ivanti:policy_secure:9.1:r3.1:*:*:*:*:*:*
ivanti policy_secure 9.1 cpe:2.3:a:ivanti:policy_secure:9.1:r4:*:*:*:*:*:*
ivanti policy_secure 9.1 cpe:2.3:a:ivanti:policy_secure:9.1:r4.1:*:*:*:*:*:*
ivanti policy_secure 9.1 cpe:2.3:a:ivanti:policy_secure:9.1:r4.2:*:*:*:*:*:*
ivanti policy_secure 9.1 cpe:2.3:a:ivanti:policy_secure:9.1:r5:*:*:*:*:*:*
ivanti policy_secure 9.1 cpe:2.3:a:ivanti:policy_secure:9.1:r6:*:*:*:*:*:*
ivanti policy_secure 9.1 cpe:2.3:a:ivanti:policy_secure:9.1:r7:*:*:*:*:*:*
pulsesecure pulse_policy_secure <= 9.0 cpe:2.3:a:pulsesecure:pulse_policy_secure:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2020-12880

cvelogic Threat Intelligence