# CVE-2021-22936: Cross-site scripting in Pulse Connect Secure

> An authenticated administrator can be targeted by cross-site scripting attacks via unsanitized web parameters in Pulse Connect Secure.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.1 (`CVSS:3.1/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 Aug 2021
- **Updated:** 3 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-5vfj-4g27-37g8

## What is CVE-2021-22936?

CVE-2021-22936 is a medium-severity cross-site scripting vulnerability in Ivanti Connect Secure, published on 16 Aug 2021. 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

A vulnerability in Pulse Connect Secure before 9.1R12 could allow a threat actor to perform a cross-site script attack against an authenticated administrator via an unsanitized web parameter.

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

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-22936?

It affects 2 products.


Products: Ivanti Connect Secure, Pulsesecure Pulse Connect Secure.

## How do I fix CVE-2021-22936?

No fix has been published for CVE-2021-22936 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2021-22936 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-22936 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-2021-22936 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2021-22936 is a medium-severity cross-site scripting vulnerability in Ivanti Connect Secure, published on 16 Aug 2021. 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-2021-22936 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-2021-22936/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-22936/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-22936
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-22936
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2021-22936

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-22936/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.