# CVE-2023-41720: Privilege escalation in Connect Secure

> An attacker with existing access can escalate privileges on Ivanti Connect Secure appliances by exploiting a vulnerable installed application.

- **Severity:** High 7.0 (`CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 14 Dec 2023
- **Updated:** 2 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-rphc-vh34-9jmw

## What is CVE-2023-41720?

CVE-2023-41720 is a high-severity vulnerability in Ivanti Connect Secure, published on 14 Dec 2023. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

A vulnerability exists on all versions of Ivanti Connect Secure below 22.6R2 where an attacker with a foothold on an Ivanti Connect Secure (ICS) appliance can escalate their privileges by exploiting a vulnerable installed application. This vulnerability allows the attacker to gain elevated execution privileges on the affected system.

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-41720?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Ivanti Connect Secure.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-41720?

No fix has been published for CVE-2023-41720 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2023-41720 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-41720 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-2023-41720 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-41720 is a high-severity vulnerability in Ivanti Connect Secure, published on 14 Dec 2023. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-41720 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-2023-41720/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-41720/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-41720
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-41720
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-41720

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-41720/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.