# CVE-2016-4788: Information disclosure in n/a

> Remote attackers can read unspecified system files from Pulse Connect Secure devices, potentially exposing sensitive configuration or data.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.8 (`CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:N/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 26 May 2016
- **Updated:** 6 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-2356-j4rx-w3fx

## What is CVE-2016-4788?

CVE-2016-4788 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Ivanti Connect Secure, published on 26 May 2016. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Pulse Connect Secure (PCS) 8.2 before 8.2r1, 8.1 before 8.1r2, 8.0 before 8.0r10, and 7.4 before 7.4r13.4 allow remote attackers to read an unspecified system file via unknown vectors.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2016-4788?

It affects 2 products.


Products: Ivanti Connect Secure, Pulsesecure Pulse Connect Secure.

## How do I fix CVE-2016-4788?

No fix has been published for CVE-2016-4788 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2016-4788 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2016-4788 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Ivanti Connect Secure

- [CVE-2021-22893](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-22893/): Ivanti Pulse Connect Secure Use-After-Free (critical 10.0, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2019-11510](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-11510/): Ivanti Pulse Connect Secure Arbitrary File Read (critical 9.9, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2024-21887](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-21887/): Ivanti Connect Secure and Policy Secure Command Injection (critical 9.1, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2025-22457](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-22457/): Ivanti Connect Secure, Policy Secure, and ZTA Gateways Stack-Based Buffer Overflow (critical 9.0, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2025-0282](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-0282/): Ivanti Connect Secure, Policy Secure, and ZTA Gateways Stack-Based Buffer Overflow (critical 9.0, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2016-4788 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2016-4788 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Ivanti Connect Secure, published on 26 May 2016. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2016-4788 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Ivanti Connect Secure. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-4788/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-4788/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2016-4788
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2016-4788
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2016-4788

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2016-4788/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.