# CVE-2019-11539: Ivanti Pulse Connect Secure and Policy Secure Command Injection

> An authenticated attacker can inject and execute arbitrary commands via the admin web interface of Pulse Secure Connect Secure and Policy Secure appliances.

- **Severity:** High 8.0 (`CVSS:3.0/AC:H/AV:N/A:H/C:H/I:H/PR:H/S:C/UI:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Yes, since 3 Nov 2021 (CISA KEV), used in ransomware
- **Login needed:** An administrator
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 26 Apr 2019
- **Updated:** 21 Oct 2025
- **Also known as:** GHSA-mchx-p635-vpq8

## What is CVE-2019-11539?

CVE-2019-11539 is a high-severity command injection vulnerability in Ivanti Connect Secure, published on 26 Apr 2019. An attacker needs administrator access to exploit it, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

In Pulse Secure Pulse Connect Secure version 9.0RX before 9.0R3.4, 8.3RX before 8.3R7.1, 8.2RX before 8.2R12.1, and 8.1RX before 8.1R15.1 and Pulse Policy Secure version 9.0RX before 9.0R3.2, 5.4RX before 5.4R7.1, 5.3RX before 5.3R12.1, 5.2RX before 5.2R12.1, and 5.1RX before 5.1R15.1, the admin web interface allows an authenticated attacker to inject and execute commands.

Weakness: CWE-78 (Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an OS Command)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2019-11539?

It affects 3 products.


Products: Ivanti Connect Secure, Ivanti Policy Secure, Pulsesecure Pulse Policy Secure.

## How do I fix CVE-2019-11539?

No fix has been published for CVE-2019-11539 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available. US federal agencies must fix it by 3 May 2022.

## Is CVE-2019-11539 being exploited?

Yes. Attackers have exploited CVE-2019-11539 in the wild since at least 3 Nov 2021, including in ransomware campaigns.

Public exploit code:

- Exploit for the Post-Auth RCE vulnerability in Pulse Secure Connect (github_poc): https://github.com/0xDezzy/CVE-2019-11539
- Pulse Secure VPN Arbitrary Command Execution (metasploit)
- Pulse Secure 8.1R15.1/8.2/8.3/9.0 SSL VPN - Remote Code Execution (exploitdb)
- Pulse Secure VPN - Arbitrary Command Execution (Metasploit) (exploitdb)

## 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-2019-11539 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2019-11539 is a high-severity command injection vulnerability in Ivanti Connect Secure, published on 26 Apr 2019. An attacker needs administrator access to exploit it, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: Yes. Attackers have exploited CVE-2019-11539 in the wild since at least 3 Nov 2021, including in ransomware campaigns.

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-2019-11539/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-11539/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2019-11539
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2019-11539
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2019-11539

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-11539/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.