Cyber Resilience

CVE-2024-21887

RCE in Ivanti Connect Secure 22.1 … 9.1

CISA KEVActive ExploitationEUVD ExploitedPublic PoCRansomware-linkedRCECommand Injection
Published
12 January 2024
Modified
04 August 2026
KEV Added
10 January 2024
Patch / advisory
View advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 9.1
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.99 100.0th percentile
Risk Priority 85 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2024-21887 is a critical-severity Command Injection (CWE-77) vulnerability in Ivanti Connect Secure. Its CVSS base score is 9.1 (Critical).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Command and Scripting Interpreter (T1059); ranked in the top 0.0% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; CISA has added it to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SA-11 (Developer Testing and Evaluation) and SI-10 (Information Input Validation) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary

Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.

CVE-2024-21887 is a command injection vulnerability (CWE-77) residing in the web components of Ivanti Connect Secure and Ivanti Policy Secure appliances running versions 9.x and 22.x. An authenticated administrator can submit specially crafted requests that result in arbitrary command execution on the underlying appliance, reflected in the CVSS 9.1 score indicating network-accessible impact with high consequences to confidentiality, integrity Availability, and scope.

An authenticated administrator can leverage the flaw to run operating-system commands on the gateway appliance, potentially leading to full device compromise. Public references also document chaining with the related authentication-bypass issue CVE-2023-46805, enabling unauthenticated remote code execution in some deployments.

Ivanti’s advisory and CISA’s Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog both list the issue, underscoring the need for immediate application of vendor patches. Packet Storm has published exploit code demonstrating the vulnerability.

The EPSS score has reached a peak of 0.9733 with a current value of 0.9441, indicating sustained and widespread exploitation interest following disclosure.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

A05:2025 Injection

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

A command injection vulnerability in web components of Ivanti Connect Secure (9.x, 22.x) and Ivanti Policy Secure (9.x, 22.x) allows an authenticated administrator to send specially crafted requests and execute arbitrary commands on the appliance.

CWE(s)
CWE-77
KEV Date Added
10 January 2024

Related Threats

Threat-Actor AttributionAI

UNC5221aka UTA0178
Mandiant and Volexity attribute exploitation of CVE-2024-21887 (with CVE-2023-46805) to UNC5221/UTA0178 in espionage campaigns against Ivanti appliances.

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1059 Command and Scripting Interpreter Execution
Adversaries may abuse command and script interpreters to execute commands, scripts, or binaries.
attack.mitre.org →
T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Access
Adversaries may attempt to exploit a weakness in an Internet-facing host or system to initially access a network.
attack.mitre.org →
T1059.001 PowerShell Execution
Adversaries may abuse PowerShell commands and scripts for execution.
attack.mitre.org →
T1059.003 Windows Command Shell Execution
Adversaries may abuse the Windows command shell for execution.
attack.mitre.org →
T1059.004 Unix Shell Execution
Adversaries may abuse Unix shell commands and scripts for execution.
attack.mitre.org →
T1059.008 Network Device CLI Execution
Adversaries may abuse scripting or built-in command line interpreters (CLI) on network devices to execute malicious command and payloads.
attack.mitre.org →
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2024-11634Same product: Ivanti Connect Secure
CVE-2021-22899Same product: Ivanti Connect Secureboth on KEV
CVE-2020-8243Same product: Ivanti Connect Secureboth on KEV
CVE-2023-46805Same product: Ivanti Connect Secureboth on KEV
CVE-2025-22457Same product: Ivanti Connect Secureboth on KEV
CVE-2025-0282Same product: Ivanti Connect Secureboth on KEV
CVE-2024-11005Same product: Ivanti Connect Secure
CVE-2024-11006Same product: Ivanti Connect Secure
CVE-2024-11007Same product: Ivanti Connect Secure
CVE-2024-21893Same product: Ivanti Connect Secureboth on KEV

Affected Assets

ivanti
connect secure
22.1, 22.2, 22.3, 22.4, 22.5
ivanti
policy secure
22.1, 22.2, 22.3, 22.4, 22.5

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

—

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

—

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)

—

Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V1.2.3
  • V1.2.5
  • V1.2.8
  • V1.2.9

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

SA-11 Developer Testing and Evaluation good match

Developer testing and evaluation can discover command-construction flaws before deployment.

SI-10 Information Input Validation good match

Input validation directly stops construction of commands from untrusted data containing special elements.

SA-8 Security and Privacy Engineering Principles partial match

Secure engineering principles include proper neutralization and safe command construction practices.

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.PS-06 mostly match
prevents

Secure SDLC practices directly require input validation and neutralization that prevent command injection.

DE.CM-09 partial match
prevents

Runtime monitoring of software and data can detect anomalous command execution resulting from injection.

ID.RA-01 partial match
prevents

Identifying recorded vulnerabilities enables remediation of command-injection flaws before exploitation.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

A.8.28 Secure coding mostly match
prevents

Secure coding standards require proper escaping and parameterization of commands, directly eliminating CWE-77.

A.8.29 Security testing in development and acceptance mostly match
finds

Security testing in development catches command-injection vulnerabilities before release.

A.8.25 Secure development life cycle partial match
prevents

Secure development life cycle mandates input validation and command construction practices that directly prevent command injection.

A.8.26 Application security requirements partial match
prevents

Application security requirements explicitly call for controls against injection flaws including command injection.

A.8.27 Secure system architecture and engineering principles partial match
prevents

Secure architecture principles reduce the attack surface but do not prescribe the specific neutralization techniques needed.

A.8.31 Separation of development, test and production environments none match
none

Environment separation limits the blast radius of an exploited command injection but does not prevent the flaw itself.

References