# CVE-2017-17947: Cross-site scripting in n/a

> Cross-site scripting in Pulse Secure PCS/PPS admin portal allows attackers to execute scripts in administrator sessions, potentially leading to account takeover.

- **Severity:** Medium 4.8 (`CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** An administrator
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 16 Jan 2018
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-23cp-hr68-96ff

## What is CVE-2017-17947?

CVE-2017-17947 is a medium-severity cross-site scripting vulnerability in Pulsesecure Pulse Connect Secure, published on 16 Jan 2018. An attacker needs administrator access to exploit it, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

### Official description

A cross site scripting issue has been found in custompage.cgi in Pulse Secure Pulse Connect Secure (PCS) before 8.0R17.0, 8.1.x before 8.1R13, 8.2.x before 8.2R9, and 8.3.x before 8.3R3 and Pulse Policy Secure (PPS) before 5.2R10, 5.3.x before 5.3R9, and 5.4.x before 5.4R3 due to one of the URL parameters not being sanitized. Exploitation does require the user to be logged in as administrator; the issue is not applicable to the end user portal.

Weakness: CWE-79 (Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2017-17947?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Pulsesecure Pulse Connect Secure.

## How do I fix CVE-2017-17947?

No fix has been published for CVE-2017-17947 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2017-17947 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2017-17947 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Pulsesecure Pulse Connect Secure

- [CVE-2018-5299](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-5299/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2020-11580](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-11580/): Security feature bypass in n/a (critical 9.1)
- [CVE-2020-11582](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-11582/): Other in n/a (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2017-11193](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-11193/): Cross-site request forgery in n/a (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2017-11196](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-11196/): Cross-site request forgery in n/a (high 8.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2017-17947 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2017-17947 is a medium-severity cross-site scripting vulnerability in Pulsesecure Pulse Connect Secure, published on 16 Jan 2018. An attacker needs administrator access to exploit it, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2017-17947 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Pulsesecure Pulse 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-2017-17947/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-17947/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2017-17947
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2017-17947
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2017-17947

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2017-17947/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.