CVE-2020-8256

Exp

A vulnerability in the Pulse Connect Secure < 9.1R8.2 admin web interface could allow an authenticated attacker to gain arbitrary file reading access through Pulse Collaboration via XML External Entity (XXE) vulnerability.

Published: 2020-09-30 Last update: 2024-11-21 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2020-8256 is rated High Exploit Risk (66.6/100): CVSS Medium severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 3.91%). 1 public exploit reference(s) are indexed (Exploit-DB). EPSS rose +1.20% over the last day, indicating growing attacker interest. Public exploits are available—assess exposure, apply mitigations, and prioritize patching.

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

Public exploit references (Exploit-DB) for CVE-2020-8256

EDB-ID Source Kind Published Link
— nvd_ref exploit_tag Exploit-DB ↗

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2020-8256

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 2025-12-14 2.71% 3.91% +1.20%
2 2025-11-21 3.91% 2.71% -1.20%
3 2025-11-18 — 3.91% —

Full EPSS history (12 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2020-8256

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
4.9 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N 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:H)
They need powerful rights—admin, root, or similar—before this pays off.
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.
 1.2 3.6 [email protected]
4.0 2.0 MEDIUM
AV:N/AC:L/Au:S/C:P/I:N/A:N 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:S)
A single authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:P)
Partial confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:N)
No integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:N)
No availability impact.
 8.0 2.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2020-8256

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2020-8256

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:*:*:*:*:*:*
ivanti connect_secure 9.1 cpe:2.3:a:ivanti:connect_secure:9.1:r8:*:*:*:*:*:*
ivanti connect_secure 9.1 cpe:2.3:a:ivanti:connect_secure:9.1:r8.1:*:*:*:*:*:*
pulsesecure pulse_connect_secure <= 9.0 cpe:2.3:a:pulsesecure:pulse_connect_secure:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2020-8256

cvelogic Threat Intelligence