Certain Secure Access SA Series SSL VPN products (originally developed by Juniper Networks but now sold and supported by Pulse Secure, LLC) allow privilege escalation, as demonstrated by Secure Access SSL VPN SA-4000 5.1R5 (build 9627) 4.2 Release (build 7631). This occurs because appropriate controls are not performed. Specifically, it is possible for a readonly user to change the administrator user password by making a local copy of the /dana-admin/user/update.cgi page, changing the "user" value, and saving the changes.
This vulnerability carries a HIGH severity rating with a CVSS v3.1 score of 8.8, indicating it can be exploited remotely over the network with relatively low complexity without requiring user interaction requiring only low-level privileges . The vulnerability impacts confidentiality (data exposure), integrity (unauthorized modifications), and availability (service disruption) for affected systems. Impacting 1 product from pulsesecure organizations running these solutions should prioritize assessment and patching.
First disclosed in 2018, this vulnerability was reported during a period defined by widespread IoT adoption challenges, mobile security concerns, and the emergence of advanced persistent threat (APT) techniques. Contemporary mitigation strategies focused on secure development practices and third-party component vetting.
2018-12-21T23:29:00.823
2024-11-21T04:01:03.703
Modified
CVSSv3.0: 8.8 (HIGH)
AV:N/AC:L/Au:S/C:P/I:N/A:N
8.0
2.9
| Type | Vendor | Product | Version/Range | Vulnerable? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Application | pulsesecure | secure_access_series_ssl_vpn_sa-4000 | 4.2 | Yes |
| Application | pulsesecure | secure_access_series_ssl_vpn_sa-4000 | 5.1r5 | Yes |
SecUtils normalizes and enriches National Vulnerability Database (NVD) records by standardizing vendor and product identifiers, aggregating vulnerability metadata from both NVD and MITRE sources, and providing structured context for security teams. For pulsesecure's affected products, we extract Common Platform Enumeration (CPE) data, Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) classifications, CVSS severity metrics, and reference data to enable rapid vulnerability prioritization and asset correlation. This record contains no exploit code, proof-of-concept instructions, or attack methodologies—only defensive intelligence necessary for patch management, risk assessment, and security operations.