# CVE-2020-15352: XML external entity in n/a

> Remote authenticated admins can exploit an XXE vulnerability to perform SSRF attacks via crafted XML requests in Pulse Connect Secure and Policy Secure.

- **Severity:** High 7.2 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** An administrator
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 27 Oct 2020
- **Updated:** 4 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-2p2j-5crh-g4rm

## What is CVE-2020-15352?

CVE-2020-15352 is a high-severity vulnerability in Ivanti Connect Secure, published on 27 Oct 2020. An attacker needs administrator access to exploit it, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

An XML external entity (XXE) vulnerability in Pulse Connect Secure (PCS) before 9.1R9 and Pulse Policy Secure (PPS) before 9.1R9 allows remote authenticated admins to conduct server-side request forgery (SSRF) attacks via a crafted DTD in an XML request.

Weakness: CWE-611 (Improper Restriction of XML External Entity Reference)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2020-15352?

It affects 4 products.


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

## How do I fix CVE-2020-15352?

No fix has been published for CVE-2020-15352 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2020-15352 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-15352 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-2020-15352 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2020-15352 is a high-severity vulnerability in Ivanti Connect Secure, published on 27 Oct 2020. An attacker needs administrator access to exploit it, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-15352 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-2020-15352/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-15352/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2020-15352
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-15352
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2020-15352

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-15352/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.