# CVE-2020-8239: Privilege escalation in Pulse Secure Desktop Cient

> Attackers can escalate privileges via a client registry vulnerability in the Pulse Secure Desktop Client, requiring both client and server upgrades.

- **Severity:** Critical 9.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 28 Oct 2020
- **Updated:** 4 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-x363-jjj2-3345

## What is CVE-2020-8239?

CVE-2020-8239 is a critical vulnerability in Pulse Secure Desktop Cient, published on 28 Oct 2020. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

A vulnerability in the Pulse Secure Desktop Client < 9.1R9 is vulnerable to the client registry privilege escalation attack. This fix also requires Server Side Upgrade due to Standalone Host Checker Client (Windows) and Windows PDC.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2020-8239?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Pulsesecure Pulse Secure Desktop Client.

## How do I fix CVE-2020-8239?

No fix has been published for CVE-2020-8239 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2020-8239 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-8239 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Pulse Secure Desktop Cient

- [CVE-2020-8254](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-8254/): Path traversal in Pulse Secure Desktop Client (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2020-8240](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-8240/): Privilege escalation in Pulse Secure Desktop Client (high 7.8)
- [CVE-2020-8248](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-8248/): Privilege escalation in Pulse Secure Desktop Client (high 7.8)
- [CVE-2020-8249](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-8249/): Memory corruption in Pulse Secure Desktop Client (high 7.8)
- [CVE-2020-8250](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-8250/): Privilege escalation in Pulse Secure Desktop Client (high 7.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2020-8239 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2020-8239 is a critical vulnerability in Pulse Secure Desktop Cient, published on 28 Oct 2020. 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-2020-8239 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Pulse Secure Desktop Cient. 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-2020-8239/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-8239/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2020-8239
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-8239
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2020-8239

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-8239/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.