CVE-2020-8239
A vulnerability in the Pulse Secure Desktop Client < 9.1R9 is vulnerable to the client registry...
A vulnerability in the Pulse Secure Desktop Client < 9.1R9 is vulnerable to the client registry privilege escalation attack. This fix also requires Server Side Upgrade due to Standalone Host Checker Client (Windows) and Windows PDC.
Attack profile
How easy it is to exploit
- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges needed
- None
- User interaction
- None
What an attacker can affect
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
Exploit likelihood
What each source reports
NVD Score used
A vulnerability in the Pulse Secure Desktop Client < 9.1R9 is vulnerable to the client registry privilege escalation attack. This fix also requires Server Side Upgrade due to Standalone Host Checker Client (Windows) and Windows PDC.
- Record
CVE-2020-8239- CVSS 3.1
- 9.8 Critical
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H - CVSS 2.0
- 7.5 High
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P - Updated
- 2026-11-02
CVE List No score
A vulnerability in the Pulse Secure Desktop Client < 9.1R9 is vulnerable to the client registry privilege escalation attack. This fix also requires Server Side Upgrade due to Standalone Host Checker Client (Windows) and Windows PDC.
- Record
CVE-2020-8239- Updated
- 2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2020-29110 No score
A vulnerability in the Pulse Secure Desktop Client < 9.1R9 is vulnerable to the client registry privilege escalation attack. This fix also requires Server Side Upgrade due to Standalone Host Checker Client (Windows) and Windows PDC.
- Record
EUVD-2020-29110- Updated
- 2026-11-03
GitHub AdvisoriesGHSA-x363-jjj2-3345 No score
A vulnerability in the Pulse Secure Desktop Client < 9.1R9 is vulnerable to the client registry...
A vulnerability in the Pulse Secure Desktop Client < 9.1R9 is vulnerable to the client registry privilege escalation attack. This fix also requires Server Side Upgrade due to Standalone Host Checker Client (Windows) and Windows PDC.
- Record
GHSA-x363-jjj2-3345- Weakness
- CWE-269
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
Affected products
History
| Recorded | Changed | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| aliases | EUVD | |
| first indexed | CVE List, GitHub Advisories, NVD |
Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.
In short
CVE-2020-8239 is a critical vulnerability (CVSS 9.8) in Pulsesecure Pulse Secure Desktop Client, published October 28, 2020. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 2.02%, the 81st percentile. No source names a fixed version.