Threats / Ivanti / CVE-2021-22893
CVE-2021-22893
· EUVD no mirror located
· GCVE no mirror located
Verified 2026-06-22
Ivanti Pulse Connect Secure vulnerability
Ivanti Pulse Connect Secure contains a use-after-free vulnerability in license services allowing remote unauthenticated code execution.
Verdict
Today item, not a backlog item.
A use-after-free flaw in Pulse Connect Secure's license services permits unauthenticated remote attackers to execute arbitrary code. The vulnerability has been actively exploited in ransomware campaigns.
01
Is it exploitable?
— the evidence, ranked above the scoreExploit available
Public proof-of-concept exploit code is cataloged for this vulnerability.We link the existence of the exploit; we do not host or redistribute payloads.
Reported exploitation
23 independent public reports of in-the-wild exploitation are cataloged.Distinct reporting sources (vendor, incident response, government); open them for the underlying claims.
Exploited in the wild
Listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog (added 2021-11-03), flagged for known ransomware use.
Probability (EPSS)
EPSS 0.47172 — modeled likelihood of exploitation activity.EPSS is a daily-changing model output — open the source for today's value.
Severity / affected
Affected: Ivanti, Pulse Connect Secure. Confirm exact fixed builds in the vendor advisory.
Weakness (CWE)
Mapped to CWE-287 Improper Authentication — weakness family: Authentication.CWE assignment from the public NVD record; the weakness class drives how the flaw is exploited.
02
Who’s exploiting it?
— attribution turns risk into urgencyAttribution not established
No confirmed (advisory-backed) threat-actor attribution is established for this record. Absence of a named actor is not absence of compromise — see Coverage & confidence.
03
Why it matters
— the attack path, told twice: adversary, then board1
Front door — unauthenticated access narrative 1
Attacker
I craft a malicious request to the license services endpoint without authentication credentials.
Business
The organization's perimeter security is bypassed; no valid credentials are required for exploitation.
2
Keys to the kingdom — privilege/identity takeover narrative 2
Attacker
I trigger a use-after-free condition by manipulating memory references in the license validation process.
Business
Memory corruption occurs within a critical service, destabilizing the VPN appliance.
3
Lateral reach — past segmentation narrative 3
Attacker
I inject and execute arbitrary code with the privileges of the Pulse Connect Secure process.
Business
The attacker gains full control of the VPN gateway, enabling lateral movement into the internal network.
4
Data at risk — exfiltration narrative 4
Attacker
I establish persistence and deploy ransomware payloads across connected systems.
Business
Critical infrastructure and data are encrypted; operations halt and ransom demands are issued.
04
What to do
— defensible action- Remediate per the vendor advisory — confirm the fixed build for your version and verify exposure.1
Say it to the boardA vulnerability with this evidence profile is a defensible budget line, not a backlog ticket — fund the change against the proof above.
05