What is CVE-2020-8260?

CVE-2020-8260 is a high-severity vulnerability in Ivanti Connect Secure, classified under Unrestricted Upload of File with Dangerous Type. CVSS score: 7.2/10. Published 2020-10-28.

How severe is CVE-2020-8260?

High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 7.2 out of 10.

Is CVE-2020-8260 known to be exploited?

Yes. CVE-2020-8260 is listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog (added 2021-11-03), indicating it is being actively exploited. 6 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed.

Arbitrary file upload in Ivanti Connect Secure

CVE-2020-8260

A vulnerability in the Pulse Connect Secure < 9.1R9 admin web interface could allow an authenticated attacker to perform an arbitrary code execution using uncontrolled gzip extraction.

Vulnerability class: Unrestricted File Upload

Published 2020-10-28 · last modified 2026-06-17.

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 7.2 (High). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.

EPSS exploit prediction

EPSS: 0.965 (99.9th percentile), scored 2026-10-19.

Very high probability of exploitation in the next 30 days — among the top 0.1% most-likely-to-be-exploited CVEs. 100th percentile — 99.9% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.

EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.965 · newest: 0.965 · change: 0.000

Affected products

Ivanti Connect Secure — versions 9.1
Pulse Connect Secure / Policy — versions 9.1R9

Weakness classification (CWE)

CWE-434 — Unrestricted Upload of File with Dangerous Type

CISA KEV (Known Exploited Vulnerabilities)

This CVE is on the CISA KEV catalog, added on 2021-11-03. CISA KEV inclusion means CISA has confirmed in-the-wild exploitation; US federal agencies are required to remediate within a published due date.

BOD 22-01 due date: 2022-05-03.

Required action: Apply updates per vendor instructions.

Public proof-of-concept exploits

References

kb.pulsesecure.net/articles/Pulse_Security_Advisories/SA44601 (Broken Link, Vendor Advisory)
packetstormsecurity.com/files/160619/Pulse-Secure-VPN-Remote-Code-Execution.html (Exploit, VDB Entry, Third Party Advisory)
134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0 (US Government Resource)

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2020-8260?: CVE-2020-8260 is a high-severity vulnerability in Ivanti Connect Secure, classified under Unrestricted Upload of File with Dangerous Type. CVSS score: 7.2/10. Published 2020-10-28.
How severe is CVE-2020-8260?: High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 7.2 out of 10.
Is CVE-2020-8260 known to be exploited?: Yes. CVE-2020-8260 is listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog (added 2021-11-03), indicating it is being actively exploited. 6 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed.