CVE-2020-8239

A vulnerability in the Pulse Secure Desktop Client < 9.1R9 is vulnerable to the client registry privilege escalation attack. This fix also requires Server Side Upgrade due to Standalone Host Checker Client (Windows) and Windows PDC.

Published: 2020-10-28 Last update: 2024-11-21 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2020-8239 is rated Moderate Risk (57.7/100): CVSS Critical severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.39%). Review affected assets and schedule remediation.

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-2020-8239

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 1.92% 0.39% -1.52%
2 2025-03-29 0.39% 1.92% +1.52%
3 2025-03-17 — 0.39% —

Full EPSS history (6 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2020-8239

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
9.8 3.1 CRITICAL
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
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:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
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:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 3.9 5.9 [email protected]
7.5 2.0 HIGH
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P Click to expand
Access vector (AV:N)
Can be exploited remotely over network reachability.
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:P)
Partial integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:P)
Partial availability impact.
 10.0 6.4 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2020-8239

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2020-8239

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
pulsesecure pulse_secure_desktop_client < 9.1 cpe:2.3:a:pulsesecure:pulse_secure_desktop_client:*:*:*:*:*:linux:*:*
pulsesecure pulse_secure_desktop_client 9.1 cpe:2.3:a:pulsesecure:pulse_secure_desktop_client:9.1:r1:*:*:*:linux:*:*
pulsesecure pulse_secure_desktop_client 9.1 cpe:2.3:a:pulsesecure:pulse_secure_desktop_client:9.1:r2:*:*:*:linux:*:*
pulsesecure pulse_secure_desktop_client 9.1 cpe:2.3:a:pulsesecure:pulse_secure_desktop_client:9.1:r3:*:*:*:linux:*:*
pulsesecure pulse_secure_desktop_client 9.1 cpe:2.3:a:pulsesecure:pulse_secure_desktop_client:9.1:r3.1:*:*:*:linux:*:*
pulsesecure pulse_secure_desktop_client 9.1 cpe:2.3:a:pulsesecure:pulse_secure_desktop_client:9.1:r4:*:*:*:linux:*:*
pulsesecure pulse_secure_desktop_client 9.1 cpe:2.3:a:pulsesecure:pulse_secure_desktop_client:9.1:r4.1:*:*:*:linux:*:*
pulsesecure pulse_secure_desktop_client 9.1 cpe:2.3:a:pulsesecure:pulse_secure_desktop_client:9.1:r4.2:*:*:*:linux:*:*
pulsesecure pulse_secure_desktop_client 9.1 cpe:2.3:a:pulsesecure:pulse_secure_desktop_client:9.1:r5:*:*:*:linux:*:*
pulsesecure pulse_secure_desktop_client 9.1 cpe:2.3:a:pulsesecure:pulse_secure_desktop_client:9.1:r6:*:*:*:linux:*:*
pulsesecure pulse_secure_desktop_client 9.1 cpe:2.3:a:pulsesecure:pulse_secure_desktop_client:9.1:r7:*:*:*:linux:*:*
pulsesecure pulse_secure_desktop_client 9.1 cpe:2.3:a:pulsesecure:pulse_secure_desktop_client:9.1:r7.1:*:*:*:linux:*:*
pulsesecure pulse_secure_desktop_client 9.1 cpe:2.3:a:pulsesecure:pulse_secure_desktop_client:9.1:r8:*:*:*:linux:*:*
pulsesecure pulse_secure_desktop_client 9.1 cpe:2.3:a:pulsesecure:pulse_secure_desktop_client:9.1:r8.2:*:*:*:linux:*:*

References for CVE-2020-8239

cvelogic Threat Intelligence