CVE-2020-8218

CRITICALNVD 7.29.0▲
EchelonGraph scoreHIGH confidence

Score elevated to 9.0 because this CVE is listed on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog (added 2022-03-07), indicating real-world exploitation has been confirmed by US federal agencies. NVD baseline CVSS 7.2 retained for reference. Confidence: HIGH.

Triggered by: CISA KEV (actively exploited)
Sources: cisa_kev, epss, ghsa, nvd
Trending — 4 sources updated this weekExploited in the wild
9.0EG
EchelonGraph verdictPatch nowTreat as an emergency — this is being exploited.
  • Actively exploited in the wild (CISA-KEV)
CISA-KEV: ExploitedEPSS PROB: 32%CVSS: 7.2Exploit: cisa kev · ssvc active · epss top5pct · public exploitExposed: 0

No vendor fix yet — apply a workaround or compensating control (WAF / firewall / segmentation) and watch for a patch.

A code injection vulnerability exists in Pulse Connect Secure <9.1R8 that allows an attacker to crafted a URI to perform an arbitrary code execution via the admin web interface.

CVSS v3
7.2
EG Score
9.0(high)
EG Risk
81(Attend)
EG Risk 81/100SSVC: Attend

EG Risk is EchelonGraph's 0–100 priority score: it fuses intrinsic severity with real-world exploitation and automatability so you can rank equal-severity CVEs and fix the most dangerous first. Higher = act sooner. Distinct from the 0–10 EG Score (severity).

How it’s computed
Severity90% × 45%
Exploitation100% × 40%
Automatability0% × 15%
Action: Remediate soon — notable exploitation risk.
EPSS PROB
32%
EPSS %ILE
98%
KEV
⚠ Exploited

Published

July 30, 2020

Last Modified

October 30, 2025

Advisory Details (2)

Auto-updated Jun 11, 2026
⚠️ Active exploitation confirmed. Patch available. Sources: cisa.
cisa Patch Available🔴 Active Exploitation

Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog | CISA

Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog | CISA. Listed in CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog.

https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2020-8218
generic

24/7 managed detection, response, and expert cybersecurity services - GoSecure

https://www.gosecure.net/blog/2020/11/13/forget-your-perimeter-part-2-four-vulnerabilities-in-pulse-connect-secure/

Weakness Classification(1)

MITRE Common Weakness Enumeration — the root-cause categories this CVE belongs to.

Data Freshness Timeline

(refreshed 55× in last 7d / 231× in last 30d)

Each row is a source pipeline that fetched or updated this CVE on that date, with what changed. For example, "NVD update" means NVD published or revised its analysis for this CVE; "MITRE cvelistV5" means we ingested or refreshed it from the CNA feed. Most recent first.

Showing the most recent 100 of 878 total refreshes for this CVE.

  1. 2026-09-25 14:59 UTCGHSA enrichment
  2. 2026-09-25 14:55 UTCCISA KEV update
  3. 2026-09-25 10:44 UTCGHSA enrichment
  4. 2026-09-25 06:27 UTCGHSA enrichment
  5. 2026-09-25 02:13 UTCGHSA enrichment
  6. 2026-09-24 21:58 UTCGHSA enrichment
  7. 2026-09-24 19:31 UTCCISA KEV update
  8. 2026-09-24 17:44 UTCEG score recompute
  9. 2026-09-24 17:44 UTCGHSA enrichment
  10. 2026-09-24 14:00 UTCEPSS rescore
  11. 2026-09-24 13:30 UTCGHSA enrichment
  12. 2026-09-24 09:16 UTCGHSA enrichment
  13. 2026-09-24 05:02 UTCGHSA enrichment
  14. 2026-09-24 00:47 UTCGHSA enrichment
  15. 2026-09-23 20:33 UTCGHSA enrichment
  16. 2026-09-23 16:19 UTCEG score recompute
  17. 2026-09-23 16:19 UTCGHSA enrichment
  18. 2026-09-23 12:05 UTCGHSA enrichment
  19. 2026-09-23 07:50 UTCGHSA enrichment
  20. 2026-09-23 03:36 UTCGHSA enrichment
  21. 2026-09-22 23:22 UTCGHSA enrichment
  22. 2026-09-22 19:36 UTCCISA KEV update
  23. 2026-09-22 19:06 UTCGHSA enrichment
  24. 2026-09-22 14:52 UTCEG score recompute
  25. 2026-09-22 14:52 UTCGHSA enrichment
Show 75 more
  1. 2026-09-22 14:44 UTCEPSS rescore
  2. 2026-09-22 10:37 UTCGHSA enrichment
  3. 2026-09-22 06:22 UTCGHSA enrichment
  4. 2026-09-22 02:07 UTCGHSA enrichment
  5. 2026-09-21 21:51 UTCEG score recompute
  6. 2026-09-21 21:51 UTCGHSA enrichment
  7. 2026-09-21 20:28 UTCEPSS rescore
  8. 2026-09-21 19:09 UTCCISA KEV update
  9. 2026-09-21 17:37 UTCGHSA enrichment
  10. 2026-09-21 13:23 UTCGHSA enrichment
  11. 2026-09-21 09:09 UTCGHSA enrichment
  12. 2026-09-21 04:54 UTCGHSA enrichment
  13. 2026-09-21 00:40 UTCGHSA enrichment
  14. 2026-09-20 20:26 UTCGHSA enrichment
  15. 2026-09-20 16:11 UTCGHSA enrichment
  16. 2026-09-20 11:57 UTCGHSA enrichment
  17. 2026-09-20 07:42 UTCGHSA enrichment
  18. 2026-09-20 03:26 UTCGHSA enrichment
  19. 2026-09-19 23:12 UTCGHSA enrichment
  20. 2026-09-19 18:58 UTCEG score recompute
  21. 2026-09-19 18:58 UTCGHSA enrichment
  22. 2026-09-19 15:37 UTCEPSS rescore
  23. 2026-09-19 14:44 UTCGHSA enrichment
  24. 2026-09-19 10:29 UTCGHSA enrichment
  25. 2026-09-19 06:14 UTCGHSA enrichment
  26. 2026-09-19 01:59 UTCGHSA enrichment
  27. 2026-09-18 21:45 UTCEG score recompute
  28. 2026-09-18 21:45 UTCGHSA enrichment
  29. 2026-09-18 19:23 UTCEPSS rescore
  30. 2026-09-18 19:20 UTCCISA KEV update
  31. 2026-09-18 17:31 UTCGHSA enrichment
  32. 2026-09-18 14:15 UTCCISA KEV update
  33. 2026-09-18 13:17 UTCGHSA enrichment
  34. 2026-09-18 09:03 UTCGHSA enrichment
  35. 2026-09-18 04:49 UTCGHSA enrichment
  36. 2026-09-18 00:35 UTCGHSA enrichment
  37. 2026-09-17 20:21 UTCEG score recompute
  38. 2026-09-17 20:21 UTCGHSA enrichment
  39. 2026-09-17 19:22 UTCEPSS rescore
  40. 2026-09-17 16:07 UTCGHSA enrichment
  41. 2026-09-17 11:53 UTCGHSA enrichment
  42. 2026-09-17 07:39 UTCGHSA enrichment
  43. 2026-09-17 03:25 UTCGHSA enrichment
  44. 2026-09-16 23:11 UTCGHSA enrichment
  45. 2026-09-16 18:56 UTCGHSA enrichment
  46. 2026-09-16 14:42 UTCEG score recompute
  47. 2026-09-16 14:42 UTCGHSA enrichment
  48. 2026-09-16 14:10 UTCCISA KEV update
  49. 2026-09-16 14:04 UTCEPSS rescore
  50. 2026-09-16 10:27 UTCGHSA enrichment
  51. 2026-09-16 06:14 UTCEG score recompute
  52. 2026-09-16 06:14 UTCGHSA enrichment
  53. 2026-09-16 01:59 UTCGHSA enrichment
  54. 2026-09-15 21:44 UTCGHSA enrichment
  55. 2026-09-15 17:30 UTCGHSA enrichment
  56. 2026-09-15 13:16 UTCGHSA enrichment
  57. 2026-09-15 09:02 UTCGHSA enrichment
  58. 2026-09-15 04:48 UTCEG score recompute
  59. 2026-09-15 04:47 UTCGHSA enrichment
  60. 2026-09-15 03:06 UTCEPSS rescore
  61. 2026-09-15 00:30 UTCGHSA enrichment
  62. 2026-09-14 20:16 UTCGHSA enrichment
  63. 2026-09-14 19:24 UTCCISA KEV update
  64. 2026-09-14 16:02 UTCGHSA enrichment
  65. 2026-09-14 11:48 UTCGHSA enrichment
  66. 2026-09-14 07:34 UTCGHSA enrichment
  67. 2026-09-14 03:20 UTCGHSA enrichment
  68. 2026-09-13 23:06 UTCGHSA enrichment
  69. 2026-09-13 18:51 UTCGHSA enrichment
  70. 2026-09-13 14:35 UTCGHSA enrichment
  71. 2026-09-13 10:21 UTCGHSA enrichment
  72. 2026-09-13 06:07 UTCGHSA enrichment
  73. 2026-09-13 01:52 UTCGHSA enrichment
  74. 2026-09-12 21:39 UTCGHSA enrichment
  75. 2026-09-12 17:24 UTCEG score recompute

Publicly available exploits

(1 reference)

Working exploit code is in the public domain (1 GitHub PoC). Defenders should treat patch urgency accordingly — public PoCs typically lead to mass-exploitation within 24-72 hours.

  • GitHub PoCwithdk/pulse-gosecure-rce-poc
    First seen Aug 29, 2020

    Tool to test for existence of CVE-2020-8218

    Open source ↗

Frequently asked(6)

What is CVE-2020-8218?
CVE-2020-8218 is a critical vulnerability published on July 30, 2020. A code injection vulnerability exists in Pulse Connect Secure <9.1R8 that allows an attacker to crafted a URI to perform an arbitrary code execution via the admin web interface.
When was CVE-2020-8218 disclosed?
CVE-2020-8218 was first published in the National Vulnerability Database on July 30, 2020, with the most recent update on October 30, 2025. EchelonGraph re-ingests CVE updates from NVD on a 2-hour cycle, so this page reflects the latest published state.
Is CVE-2020-8218 actively exploited?
Yes. CISA added CVE-2020-8218 to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on March 7, 2022, affecting Pulse Secure Pulse Connect Secure. KEV listing indicates confirmed exploitation in the wild; this CVE warrants immediate patching attention.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2020-8218?
CVE-2020-8218 has a CVSS v3 base score of 7.2 (NVD). EchelonGraph synthesises NVD + CISA KEV + FIRST EPSS + GHSA into a combined EG score of 9.0.
Which products are affected by CVE-2020-8218?
CVE-2020-8218 affects Pulse Secure Pulse Connect Secure. The full affected-products list, including version ranges and fixed versions, is shown in the Affected Packages section of this page.
How do I remediate CVE-2020-8218?
Patch to the fixed version published by the affected vendor. Where vendor advisories exist for CVE-2020-8218, EchelonGraph cross-links them in the Vendor Advisories panel below — those typically contain the canonical remediation steps, fixed version numbers, and any vendor-specific mitigations.

Dependency Blast Radius

Explore the affected products and dependency analysis for CVE-2020-8218

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