# CVE-2018-20808: Cross-site scripting in n/a

> Cross-site scripting in Pulse Connect Secure allows attackers to execute scripts in user sessions, potentially leading to account takeover.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.1 (`CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 16 Mar 2019
- **Updated:** 17 Sep 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-cgg9-3m27-m426

## What is CVE-2018-20808?

CVE-2018-20808 is a medium-severity cross-site scripting vulnerability in Ivanti Connect Secure, published on 16 Mar 2019. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

### Official description

An XSS issue has been found with rd.cgi in Pulse Secure Pulse Connect Secure 8.3RX before 8.3R3 due to improper header sanitization. This is not applicable to 8.1RX.

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

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2018-20808?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Ivanti Connect Secure.

## How do I fix CVE-2018-20808?

No fix has been published for CVE-2018-20808 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2018-20808 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2018-20808 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-2018-20808 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2018-20808 is a medium-severity cross-site scripting vulnerability in Ivanti Connect Secure, published on 16 Mar 2019. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2018-20808 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-2018-20808/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-20808/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2018-20808
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2018-20808
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2018-20808

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-20808/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.