VulnerabilityPublished 31 Jan 2024Updated 16 Dec 2025

CVE-2024-21888: Ivanti ICS · Improper Privilege Management

Affects Ivanti ICSSource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · 85% EPSS · CVSS 8.8 High.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 17:16 UTC

CVSS 3.0 base score

8.8High

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

EPSS: 85.4% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 99% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: Low
User Interaction: None
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: High
Integrity: High
Availability: High

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Network: The vulnerable component is bound to the network stack and the set of possible attackers extends beyond the other options listed, up to and including the entire Internet. Such a vulnerability is often termed 'remotely exploitable' and can be thought of as an attack being exploitable at the protocol level one or more network hops away (e.g., across one or more routers).
Attack Complexity: Low: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
Privileges Required: Low: The attacker is authorized with (i.e., requires) privileges that provide basic user capabilities that could normally affect only settings and files owned by a user. Alternatively, an attacker with Low privileges may have the ability to cause an impact only to non-sensitive resources.
User Interaction: None: The vulnerable system can be exploited without any interaction from any user.
Scope: Unchanged: An exploited vulnerability can only affect resources managed by the same security authority. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are either the same, or both are managed by the same security authority.
Confidentiality: High: There is total loss of confidentiality, resulting in all resources within the impacted component being divulged to the attacker. Alternatively, access to only some restricted information is obtained, but the disclosed information presents a direct, serious impact.
Integrity: High: There is a total loss of integrity, or a complete loss of protection. For example, the attacker is able to modify any/all files protected by the impacted component. Alternatively, only some files can be modified, but malicious modification would present a direct, serious consequence to the impacted component.
Availability: High: There is total loss of availability, resulting in the attacker being able to fully deny access to resources in the impacted component; this loss is either sustained (while the attacker continues to deliver the attack) or persistent (the condition persists even after the attack has completed). Alternatively, the attacker has the ability to deny some availability, but the loss of availability presents a direct, serious consequence to the impacted component (e.g., the attacker cannot disrupt existing connections, but can prevent new connections; the attacker can repeatedly exploit a vulnerability that, in each instance of a successful attack, leaks a only small amount of memory, but after repeated exploitation causes a service to become completely unavailable).

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 31 Jan 2024
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 26 Oct 2026.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponised: Public exploit code exists in Metasploit or Exploit-DB, or CISA SSVC or the CVSS exploit maturity reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
Ivanti ICS	Affected =22.6	Fixed in–

AI-suggested

Monitor Ivanti's official channels closely for the release of security patches addressing CVE-2024-21888 and apply them immediately upon availability.
Until patches are available, restrict access to Ivanti ICS and Policy Secure web interfaces to trusted IP addresses and networks using firewall rules and network segmentation.
Enforce multi-factor authentication (MFA) for all user accounts accessing these systems to reduce the risk of credential compromise.
Conduct thorough audits of user privileges and remove or limit unnecessary low-privilege accounts that could be leveraged for escalation.
Implement continuous monitoring and alerting for unusual administrative activity or privilege escalations within Ivanti systems.
Review and tighten access control policies within Ivanti products to minimize the attack surface.
Educate administrators and security teams about the vulnerability and ensure incident response plans include scenarios involving privilege escalation in remote access systems.
Consider deploying intrusion detection/prevention systems (IDS/IPS) tuned to detect anomalous behavior related to Ivanti ICS web components.

Description

CVE-2024-21888 is a high-severity privilege escalation vulnerability affecting Ivanti Connect Secure (ICS) and Ivanti Policy Secure web components in versions 9.1R18 and 22.6R2. This flaw allows an authenticated user with limited privileges to escalate their access to administrator level without requiring user interaction. The vulnerability impacts confidentiality, integrity, and availability, enabling full control over the affected systems. No known exploits are currently reported in the wild, but the ease of exploitation and critical impact make it a significant risk. European organizations using these Ivanti products, especially in sectors relying on secure remote access and policy enforcement, are at risk. Mitigation requires prompt patching once updates are available and implementing strict access controls and monitoring. Countries with high adoption of Ivanti ICS solutions and critical infrastructure reliance on remote access VPNs are most likely affected. Given the CVSS score of 8.

Impact

For European organizations, the impact of CVE-2024-21888 is significant due to the widespread use of Ivanti ICS and Policy Secure products in sectors such as finance, healthcare, government, and critical infrastructure. Successful exploitation could allow attackers to gain administrative control over remote access gateways and policy enforcement points, potentially leading to data breaches, unauthorized access to internal networks, and disruption of business operations. The compromise of administrative privileges could also facilitate lateral movement within networks, increasing the risk of further compromise. Given the reliance on secure remote access solutions in the post-pandemic hybrid work environment, this vulnerability poses a heightened risk to confidentiality and integrity of sensitive information. Additionally, disruption or manipulation of policy enforcement could weaken organizational security postures, exposing systems to further attacks. The absence of known exploits in the wild provides a window for proactive defense, but the high severity score and ease of exploitation underscore the need for immediate action.

Summary

CVE-2024-21888 is a privilege escalation vulnerability identified in the web components of Ivanti Connect Secure (ICS) and Ivanti Policy Secure products, specifically versions 9.1R18 and 22.6R2. The vulnerability stems from improper access control (CWE-269), allowing an authenticated user with limited privileges to elevate their permissions to that of an administrator without requiring any user interaction. The CVSS 3.0 base score of 8.8 reflects the vulnerability's high impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability, with an attack vector over the network (AV:N), low attack complexity (AC:L), and no user interaction (UI:N). The vulnerability affects the core web interface used for remote access and policy management, which are critical components in enterprise security infrastructure. Although no public exploits have been reported yet, the flaw's nature suggests that attackers who gain initial access to a low-privilege account could fully compromise the system by escalating privileges. This could lead to unauthorized access to sensitive data, manipulation of security policies, and disruption of services. The vulnerability was published on January 31, 2024, and is assigned to Ivanti, a vendor widely used in enterprise environments for secure remote access and policy enforcement. The lack of available patches at the time of reporting increases the urgency for organizations to apply compensating controls and monitor for suspicious activity.

CWE-269Improper Privilege Management (opens in a new tab)
Class weaknessLikelihood of exploit: MediumOWASP Top 10 A06:2025: Insecure Design (opens in a new tab)
The product does not properly assign, modify, track, or check privileges for an actor, creating an unintended sphere of control for that actor.
MITRE discourages mapping vulnerabilities to this broad entry; the root cause is usually a more specific weakness.
Architecture and Design · Operation
Very carefully manage the setting, management, and handling of privileges. Explicitly manage trust zones in the software.
Architecture and Design · Separation of Privilege
Follow the principle of least privilege when assigning access rights to entities in a software system.
Architecture and Design · Separation of Privilege
Consider following the principle of separation of privilege. Require multiple conditions to be met before permitting access to a system resource.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
Docker Security (opens in a new tab)
Third Party Javascript Management (opens in a new tab)
Virtual Patching (opens in a new tab)
Secure Design Principles (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V1.4.4 (opens in a new tab)
V1.4.5 (opens in a new tab)
V1.10.1 (opens in a new tab)
Attack patterns
Restful Privilege Elevation (opens in a new tab)
Privilege Abuse (opens in a new tab)
Privilege Escalation (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

forums.ivanti.com/s/article/CVE-2024-21888-Privilege-Escalation-for-Ivanti-Connect-Secure-and-Ivanti-Policy-Secure?language=en_US (opens in a new tab)

Community reviews

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 23 Dec 2025, 18:37 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-269

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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