How severe is CVE-2019-11539?

CVE-2019-11539 has a CVSS score of 7.2/10, rated HIGH. Immediate patching is strongly recommended.

Which packages are affected by CVE-2019-11539?

Affected package information for CVE-2019-11539 is not yet fully mapped. Check the official advisory links for details.

How do I fix CVE-2019-11539?

No fixed version has been published for CVE-2019-11539 yet. Monitor the advisory for updates, apply mitigations recommended by the vendor, and use O3 Security to track when a fix becomes available in your stack.

Is CVE-2019-11539 actively exploited in the wild?

Yes. There are 8 known exploit references for CVE-2019-11539, including 2 documented proof-of-concept exploits on Exploit-DB and 5 in-the-wild exploitations observed on GitHub and other sources. Treat this as actively exploitable and prioritize patching immediately. All exploit code should only be run in an isolated sandbox environment for research or authorized testing — never against production systems without explicit written authorization.

What is the EPSS score for CVE-2019-11539?

CVE-2019-11539 has an EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) score of 93.9%, placing it in the 100th percentile of all CVEs. EPSS is maintained by FIRST.org and estimates the probability that a vulnerability will be exploited in the wild within the next 30 days. A score above 50% indicates significantly elevated exploitation risk — immediate patching is strongly recommended.

Is CVE-2019-11539 in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog?

Yes. CVE-2019-11539 (Ivanti Pulse Connect Secure and Policy Secure Command Injection Vulnerability) was added to CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog on 2021-11-03. CISA required all US federal civilian agencies to remediate this vulnerability by 2022-05-03. The required action was: Apply updates per vendor instructions. This CVE has been used in known ransomware campaigns. Being listed in the KEV catalog is the strongest possible confirmation of active exploitation — treat this as a critical priority.

What type of vulnerability is CVE-2019-11539?

CVE-2019-11539 is classified as OS Command Injection (CWE-78). This weakness type describe the underlying flaw category, which helps determine the potential impact and the right class of mitigation. This is a high-impact weakness class that often enables remote code execution or data exposure.

Which products and versions are affected by CVE-2019-11539?

CVE-2019-11539 affects ivanti connect secure (4 versions, e.g. 8.1, 8.2, 8.3…); ivanti policy secure (1 version, e.g. 9.0); pulsesecure pulse policy secure (66 versions, e.g. 5.1r1.0, 5.1r1.1, 5.1r2.0…). Check the affected-products list on this page against your deployed version to confirm exposure.

When was CVE-2019-11539 published, and has it been updated?

CVE-2019-11539 was published on April 26, 2019 and was last updated on November 6, 2025. Advisory data evolves as severity scores, affected ranges, and exploit intelligence are revised — always check the latest version of the advisory before acting.

CISA KEV·Added 2021-11-03 — agencies required to remediate by 2022-05-03 · Ransomware

CVE-2019-11539

HIGH

In Pulse Secure Pulse Connect Secure version 9.0RX before 9.0R3.4, 8.3RX before 8.3R7.1, 8.2RX before 8.2R12.1, and 8.1RX before 8.1R15.1 and Pulse Policy Secure version 9.0RX before…

Published

Apr 26, 2019

Updated

Nov 6, 2025

Affected

0 pkgs

Patched

None yet

Exploits

8 known

EPSS Exploitation Probability

via FIRST.org ↗

93.9%probability of exploitation in next 30 days

Very High Risk100th percentile0.00%

EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) is a daily probability model maintained by FIRST.org. It estimates the likelihood a CVE will be exploited in production environments within the next 30 days, derived from real-world threat intelligence signals.

Description

In Pulse Secure Pulse Connect Secure version 9.0RX before 9.0R3.4, 8.3RX before 8.3R7.1, 8.2RX before 8.2R12.1, and 8.1RX before 8.1R15.1 and Pulse Policy Secure version 9.0RX before 9.0R3.2, 5.4RX before 5.4R7.1, 5.3RX before 5.3R12.1, 5.2RX before 5.2R12.1, and 5.1RX before 5.1R15.1, the admin web interface allows an authenticated attacker to inject and execute commands.

Affected Products

3 products · 138 configurations

Application

connect secureivanti

4 versions

8.18.28.39.0

Application

policy secureivanti

1 version

9.0

Application

pulse policy securepulsesecure

66 versions

5.1r1.05.1r1.15.1r2.05.1r2.15.1r3.05.1r3.25.1r4.05.1r5.05.1r6.05.1r7.05.1r8.05.1r9.0

Exploits & PoCs

Research use only. For defensive security, authorized penetration testing, and academic research only. Never execute exploit code against systems without explicit written authorization.

EDB-47354remotemultiple

Pulse Secure 8.1R15.1/8.2/8.3/9.0 SSL VPN - Remote Code Execution

by Justin Wagner · Sep 6, 2019

Exploit-DB Source

EDB-47700remotemultiple✓ Verified

Pulse Secure VPN - Arbitrary Command Execution (Metasploit)

by Metasploit · Nov 20, 2019

Exploit-DB Source

Frequently Asked Questions

O3 Security · Impact-Aware SCA

Is CVE-2019-11539 in your stack?

O3 detects CVE-2019-11539 across dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.

Scan my stack How O3 SCA works

CVSS Score

7.2/10

CVSS v3 base score

Vector breakdown

AV:Attack Vector

Network

AC:Attack Complexity

Low

PR:Privileges Required

High

UI:User Interaction

None

S:Scope

Unchanged

C:Confidentiality

High

I:Integrity

High

A:Availability

High

Raw vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

CWE Classification

CWE-78OS Command Injection

Weaponization

No known public exploit tooling found.

Timeline

Disclosed

Apr 26, 2019

First exploit

Sep 6, 2019

KEV added

Nov 3, 2021

Last updated

Nov 6, 2025

Identifiers

CVE-2019-11539

References

Advisorypacketstormsecurity.com Advisorypacketstormsecurity.com Advisorypacketstormsecurity.com Advisorysecurityfocus.com Advisorykb.pulsesecure.net Advisorypsirt.global.sonicwall.com Advisorykb.cert.org Advisorypacketstormsecurity.com Advisorypacketstormsecurity.com Advisorypacketstormsecurity.com Advisorysecurityfocus.com Advisorykb.pulsesecure.net Advisorypsirt.global.sonicwall.com Advisorykb.cert.org Exploit / PoCdevco.re Exploit / PoCi.blackhat.com Exploit / PoCdevco.re Exploit / PoCi.blackhat.com Webcisa.gov

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