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Full vulnerability report · 2019
CVE-2019-19781High confidence

Citrix ADC, Gateway, and SD-WAN WANOP Appliance Code Execution Vulnerability

Citrix · Application Delivery Controller (ADC), Gateway, and SD-WAN WANOP Appliance

9.8CriticalCVSS 3.1
Recommended action
Mitigate now

CISA confirms exploitation in the wild and lists 2022-05-03 as the remediation due date.

Mitigation available
R
Operational reassessment

Published severity in operational context

Open reassessment dashboard →
Published severityCriticalOperational priority:Critical, unchanged from published severity.unchanged

Evidence used

  • CISA confirms exploitation in the wild.
  • The selected CVSS metric records a network-reachable, unauthenticated path with no user interaction.
  • EPSS is 100.00% for the current model date.

Compensating controls

  • Apply the linked authoritative mitigation while planning the permanent fix.
  • Restrict the affected network interface to trusted sources where business-safe.
  • Increase monitoring for the attack path and post-exploitation behaviour described in the report.

Verification

  1. Confirm that the asset runs Citrix Application Delivery Controller (ADC), Gateway, and SD-WAN WANOP Appliance and falls inside the recorded affected range.
  2. Recheck the vendor advisory before scheduling a change because no verified fixed version is currently retained.
  3. Validate exposure, authentication requirements and compensating controls in the actual environment.
  4. Reopen this reassessment when CVSS, KEV, EPSS, exploit evidence or remediation changes.
Mitigation target: Within 3 daysRemediation target: Within 90 days

This automated reassessment organises public evidence. It does not know asset exposure, business impact or control effectiveness and does not replace CVSS or a human risk decision.

Optional official sources

National CERT insights
?CERT means Computer Emergency Response Team; CSIRT is the closely related term Computer Security Incident Response Team.

Choose official national sources for this report. Each advisory shows its original language. Your selection is remembered on this device and included in shared links.

Official European source

ENISA European Vulnerability Database

Official EUVD identifiers, advisory evidence and known-exploited context. Missing fields are not treated as evidence of low risk.

1 current
ENISA EUVD identifier

EUVD-2019-9380

CISA KEV mirrored by ENISA

An issue was discovered in Citrix Application Delivery Controller (ADC) and Gateway 10.5, 11.1, 12.0, 12.1, and 13.0. They allow Directory Traversal.

EUVD state
Present in the current official mapping
Known exploitation
Recorded by ENISA since 3 Nov 2021. Evidence sources: cisa_kev.
ENISA score
9.8 · CVSS 3.1
Advisory evidence
No linked advisory details stored yet
Recommended actionMitigate now

CISA confirms exploitation in the wild and lists 2022-05-03 as the remediation due date.

Mitigation available
01

What, why and how

Citrix ADC, Citrix Gateway, and multiple Citrix SD-WAN WANOP appliance models contain an unspecified vulnerability that could allow an unauthenticated attacker to perform code execution.

What

Citrix ADC, Citrix Gateway, and multiple Citrix SD-WAN WANOP appliance models contain an unspecified vulnerability that could allow an unauthenticated attacker to perform code execution.

Why

Attacker-controlled path data is not constrained to the intended directory before the application accesses a file.

How

An attacker operating through a network path may attempt exploitation without authentication or user interaction. If successful, the issue may cause the confidentiality, integrity or availability impact described by the vendor.

What

Citrix ADC, Citrix Gateway, and multiple Citrix SD-WAN WANOP appliance models contain an unspecified vulnerability that could allow an unauthenticated attacker to perform code execution.

Why

Attacker-controlled path data is not constrained to the intended directory before the application accesses a file.

How

An attacker operating through a network path may attempt exploitation without authentication or user interaction. If successful, the issue may cause the confidentiality, integrity or availability impact described by the vendor.

02

Exploit reality and attack path

CVSS severity, EPSS forecast probability, public exploit material and CISA-confirmed exploitation are separate signals.

Observed exploitation
?Confirmed exploitation and public exploit material are separate signals. Attacks can occur without public proof-of-concept or exploit code.
Confirmed in the wild

CISA added this CVE to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalogue on 2021-11-03. Known ransomware campaign use is recorded.

Public PoC / exploit material
?Confirmed exploitation and public exploit material are separate signals. Attacks can occur without public proof-of-concept or exploit code.
None recorded

No exploit-tagged reference or CISA SSVC proof-of-concept state is currently recorded. Research may still exist outside the structured feeds.

Likely attack path
a network path → Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal') → cause the confidentiality, integrity or availability impact described by the vendor
Attack surface
Network
Privileges required
None: unauthenticated exploitation is possible
User interaction
None
Attack complexity
Low: no specialised conditions are recorded
Security boundary
Unchanged: impact remains within the vulnerable component's security authority
Weakness
?CWE means Common Weakness Enumeration: a standard category for the underlying weakness.
CWE-22 ↗

CWE-22: Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal'). The product uses external input to construct a pathname that is intended to identify a file or directory that is located underneath a restricted parent directory, but the product does not properly neutralize special elements within the pathname that can cause the pathname to resolve to a location that is outside of the restricted directory.

CVSS vector
?CVSS means Common Vulnerability Scoring System. The vector records the metric values used to calculate technical severity.
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Common Vulnerability Scoring System 3.1: the compact vector below is decoded into plain language.

AVNetworkAttack vector: The vulnerable component can be reached over a network.ACLowAttack complexity: No specialised conditions are required beyond attacker-controlled input.PRNonePrivileges required: The attacker does not need an account or existing privileges.UINoneUser interaction: No action by another user is required.SUnchangedScope: The security impact remains within the vulnerable component's authority.CHighConfidentiality impact: A successful attack can cause a major loss.IHighIntegrity impact: A successful attack can cause a major loss.AHighAvailability impact: A successful attack can cause a major loss.
Post-exploitation / living off the land
No specific living-off-the-land technique is confirmed in the structured sources. Monitor normal administration tools for activity inconsistent with the affected service's baseline.
NetworkUnauthenticatedCWE-22CISA KEV
A

Official authority intelligence

Only matched European and national findings are included. Language selectors and unavailable sources are omitted.

ENISA EUVD · EUVD-2019-9380Known-exploited evidence recorded

An issue was discovered in Citrix Application Delivery Controller (ADC) and Gateway 10.5, 11.1, 12.0, 12.1, and 13.0. They allow Directory Traversal.

Official EUVD record ↗
Canadian Centre for Cyber Security · English · AL21-007APT Actors Target U.S. and Allied Networks - update 1

On 15 April 2021, the NSA, CISA, and FBI issued a Joint Cybersecurity Advisory [ 1 ], drawing attention to widespread scanning and exploitation of several vulnerabilities by APT actors. The advisory states that the APT actors are targeting vulnerable systems to obtain authentication credentials and enable further access within networks, including national security and government systems. Examples of recent activity include compromising SolarWinds Orion updates, targeting COVID-19 research facilities, and leveraging a VMWare vulnerability for authentication abuse. The Cybersecurity Advisory highlights the following vulnerabilities being exploited: CVE-2018-13379 Fortinet [ 2 ], [ 3 ] CVE-2019-9670 Zimbra [ 3 ] CVE-2019-11510 Pulse Secure [ 3 ], [ 4 ] CVE-2019-19781 Citrix [ 3 ] CVE-2020-4006 VMware [ 5 ] UPDATE 1 [ 6 ] CVE-2020-5902 F5 Big-IP CVE-2020-14882 Oracle WebLogic CVE-2021-21972 VMWare vSphere CVE-2019-1653 Cisco router CVE-2019-2725 Oracle WebLogic Server CVE-2019-7609 Kibana CVE-2021-26857 Exchange (SOAP payload) CVE-2021-26858 Exchange (Arbitrary files) CVE-2021-27065 Exchange (Arbitrary files) The Cyber Centre is highlighting this advisory, as it provides important information to system owners and operators responsible for defending their systems and networks from cyber threats. There are software updates and mitigations for these vulnerabilities. See past reporting by the Cyber Center and partners for more details. Should activity matching the content of this Alert be discovered, recipients are encouraged to contact the Cyber Centre by email ( contact@cyber.gc.ca ) or by telephone ( 1-833-CYBER-88 or 1-833-292-3788 ).

Official advisory ↗
Canadian Centre for Cyber Security · English · AL20-008Cyber threats to Canadian health organizations

The Cyber Centre assesses that the COVID-19 pandemic presents an elevated level of risk to the cyber security of Canadian health organizations involved in the national response to the pandemic. The Cyber Centre therefore recommends that these organizations remain vigilant and take the time to ensure that they are engaged in cyber defense best practices, including increased monitoring of network logs, reminding employees to practice phishing awareness and ensuring that servers and critical systems are patched for all known security vulnerabilities. While this Alert highlights risks to the medical and health communities in Canada during the COVID-19 crisis, the advice and guidance also applies to other Canadian businesses, particularly those with employees teleworking through VPNs. Suggested mitigations and best practices are outlined below.

Official advisory ↗
Canadian Centre for Cyber Security · English · AL20-005Detecting Compromises relating to Citrix CVE-2019-19781

Due to the severity of CVE-2019-19781 and the ease by which threat actors are currently able to access working code to compromise unpatched and unmitigated Citrix devices, the Cyber Centre advises organizations that have not yet applied mitigations or patches to assume that they have already been compromised. The Cyber Centre strongly advises system owners who have not yet applied patches or mitigations to immediately disconnect their Citrix appliance(s) from the Internet and begin a full forensic investigation. Please note that recently applied mitigations or patches will not negate an active compromise that may have occurred while the appliance was in a vulnerable state. The indicators of compromise and tools for detecting compromise provided by Citrix, the Cyber Centre, CISA and other security researchers are not exhaustive, and should be used as a starting point for a full forensic assessment.

Official advisory ↗
Canadian Centre for Cyber Security · English · AV20-020Citrix security advisory

On 24 January 2020 Citrix released the final security update to address a critical vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2019-19781, for the following products: Successful exploitation of this vulnerability may allow an unauthenticated remote actor to perform arbitrary code execution.

Official advisory ↗
Canadian Centre for Cyber Security · English · AV20-016Citrix security advisory

On 19 January 2020 Citrix released security updates to address a critical vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2019-19781, for the following products: • NetScaler ADC and NetScaler Gateway version 12.0 all supported builds before 12.0.63.13 • NetScaler ADC and NetScaler Gateway version 11.1 all supported builds before 11.1.63.15

Official advisory ↗
Canadian Centre for Cyber Security · English · AL20-003Active Exploitation of Citrix Vulnerabilities

AUDIENCE ======== This Alert is intended for IT professionals and managers of notified organizations. Recipients of this information may redistribute it within their respective organizations. PURPOSE ======= An Alert is used to raise awareness of a recently identified cyber threat that may impact cyber information assets, and to provide additional detection and mitigation advice to recipients. The Canadian Centre for Cyber Security ("Cyber Centre") is also available to provide additional assistance regarding the content of this Alert to recipients as requested.

Official advisory ↗
Canadian Centre for Cyber Security · English · AV19-291Citrix security advisory

On 17 December 2019 Citrix released a security bulletin to address a critical vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2019-19781, for the following products: • Citrix ADC and Citrix Gateway version 13.0 all supported builds • Citrix ADC and NetScaler Gateway version 12.1 all supported builds • Citrix ADC and NetScaler Gateway version 12.0 all supported builds • Citrix ADC and NetScaler Gateway version 11.1 all supported builds • Citrix NetScaler ADC and NetScaler Gateway version 10.5 all supported builds

Official advisory ↗
CERT-FR · French · CERTFR-2019-AVI-640Vulnérabilité dans Citrix Application Delivery Controller et Gateway

Une vulnérabilité a été découverte dans Citrix Application Delivery Controller et Gateway. Elle permet à un attaquant de provoquer une exécution de code arbitraire à distance.

Official advisory ↗
JVN iPedia · Japanese · JVNDB-2019-013490Citrix Application Delivery Controller および Gateway におけるパストラバーサルの脆弱性

Citrix Application Delivery Controller (ADC) および Gateway には、パストラバーサルの脆弱性が存在します。

Official advisory ↗
KISA KrCERT/CC · Korean · KNVD-5251주요 보안 취약점 업데이트를 재확인 하세요!!

#### 주요 보안 취약점 업데이트를 재확인 하세요!! 2021.01.05 ##### □ 개요 o `20년 보안공지 된 취약점 중 업데이트 적용에 대한 재확인이 필요한 주요 취약점 리스트 ※ 미국 NSA 발표, 랜섬웨어 유포에 악용된 취약점 등 이슈화 된 취약점 선정 ##### □ 주요 내용 No 구분 CVE번호 제조사 제품명 취약점 종류 패치정보 및 보안공지 1 네트워크 CVE-2019-15978 외 10개 Cisco Data Center Network Manager 명령어 삽입 취약점 등 [1] 2 네트워크 CVE-2019-19781 Citrix ADC, Gateway,SDWAN-WANOP 임의코드 실행 취약점 [2] 3 네트워크 CVE-2020-11896 Cisco ASR 500,5500 원격코드 실행 취약점 [3] 4 운영체제 CVE-2020-7247 - OpenSMTPD 원격코드 실행 취약점 [4] 5 운영체제 CVE-2020-0674 MS 인터넷 익스플로러 원격코드 실행 취약점 [5] 6 운영체제 CVE-2020-0688 MS 윈도우 Exchange 서버 원격코드 실행 취약점 [6] 7 운영체제 CVE-2020-0796 MS 윈도우 SMBv3 원격코드 실행 취약점 [7] 8 운영체제 CVE-2019-14287 유닉스/리눅스 - sudo 명령어 취약점 [8] 9 운영체제 CVE-2020-1472 MS 윈도우 서버 Netlogon 권한상승 취약점 [9] 10 가상화 CVE-2020-3943 외 2개 VMware vRealize Operations 임의코드 실행 취약점 등 [10] 11 가상화 CVE-2020-3952 VMware vCenter Server 정보유노출 취약점 [11] 12 웹서버 CVE-2020-1938 Apache Tomcat 원격코드 실행 취약점 [12] 13 보안솔루션 CVE-2020-7845 지란지교시큐리티 스팸스나이퍼 버퍼오버플로우 취약점 [13]

Official advisory ↗
KISA KrCERT/CC · Korean · KNVD-5219해킹 공격에 악용되는 취약점 업데이트 권고

8 [2] 공격자가 특별하게 조작된 RDP 패킷을 전송하여 피해 시스템에 임의 코드를 실행할 수 있는 취약점 CVE-2020-1040 [3] 공격자가 NTLM MIC(메시지 무결성 검증)을 우회하여 중간자공격(MITM)이 가능한 취약점 CVE-2020-0601 [4] 암호화 인증서를 검증하는 API에서 발생하는 중간자공격(MITM)이 가능한 취약점 CVE-2019-0803 [5] 메모리의 객체 처리가 미흡하여 발생하는 권한상승 취약점 CVE-2020-1472 [6] Netlogon 프로토콜의 취약한 암호화 운영모드 사용으로 발생하는 권한상승 취약점 윈도우 서버 CVE-2020-1350 [7] DNS로 운영되는 Windows 서버에서 요청값에 대한 처리가 미흡하여 발생하는 원격코드실행 취약점 윈도우 Exchange 서버 CVE-2020-0688 [8] 메모리의 객체에 대한 처리가 미흡하여 발생하는 원격코드실행 취약점 Oracle WebLogic Server CVE-2015-4852 [9] 조작된 자바 객체를 역직렬화하여 발생하는 임의코드실행 취약점 Coherence CVE-2020-2555 [10] 조작한 T3 프로토콜의 request를 허용 및 역직렬화하여 발생하는 원격코드실행 취약점 Citrix ADC, Gateway, SDWAN- WANOP CVE-2019-19781 [11] 공격자가 인증을 우회하여 임의코드를 실행할 수 있는 취약점 CVE-2020-8193, 8195, 8196 [12] 허가되지 않은 사용자가 특정 URL에접근 가능하여 발생하는 정보노출 취약점 Atlassian Confluence Server CVE-2019-3396 [13] Widget Connector macro에서 발생하는 경로탐색 및 원격코드실행 취약점 Crowd, Crowd Data Center CVE-2019-11580 [14] 임의 플러그인 설치를 허용하여 발생하는 원격코드실행 취약점 Pulse Secure Pulse Connect Secure (PCS) CVE-2019-11510 [15] 접근통제가 미흡하여 원격의 공격자가 임의 파일을 읽을 수 있는 취약점 BIG-IP Traffic Management UI CVE-2020-5902 [16] 접근통제가 미흡하여 발생하는 원격코드실행 취약점 MobileIron Core, Connector CVE-2020-15505 [17] 원격의 공격자가 임의 코드를 실행할 수 있는 원격코드실행 취약점 Exim 메일 서비스 CVE-2018-6789 [18] base64 decode 함수에서 발생하는 버퍼오버플로우 취약점 Adobe ColdFusion CVE-2018-4939 [19] 신뢰되지

Official advisory ↗
KISA KrCERT/CC · Korean · KNVD-5093Citrix 제품군 취약점 보안 업데이트 권고

Citrix의 ADC, Gateway 및 SDWAN WANOP Edition에서 공격자가 인증을 우회하여 임의코드를 실행할 수 있는 취약점(CVE-2019-19781) [1]

Official advisory ↗
KISA KrCERT/CC · Korean · KNVD-5085Citrix 제품군 취약점 주의 권고

Citrix의 ADC와 Gateway에서 공격자가 인증을 우회하여 임의코드를 실행할 수 있는 취약점(CVE-2019-19781) [2]

Official advisory ↗
03

Patch and workaround

Operational remediation based on structured source evidence.

Status
?Patch availability is based on structured fixed-version fields and authoritative update references. If no fix is verified, check the vendor advisory before making a change.
Mitigation available
Affected
n/a
Fixed
No fixed version is explicitly recorded in the structured CVE data.
Action
The Cyber Centre encourages users and administrators to review the following Citrix publications and apply the necessary updates:
Workaround
No verified workaround is recorded. If business-safe, reduce exposure to the affected interface and allow only trusted sources until authoritative guidance is available.
04

Evidence and provenance

Published 27 Dec 2019 · Last source change 12 Aug 2026, 03:55 UTC · CWE-22 · Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal')

CVE recordCVE.org · 5.2
CVSS sourceNIST NVD
EPSS source
?The date BlackTree first stored a score for this CVE from the daily FIRST EPSS feed.
FIRST · tracked since 2026-09-01
European sourceENISA EUVD · EUVD-2019-9380
Product sourceCISA KEV
Remediation sourceCVE/CNA references
CWE sourceCISA ADP
NVD statusNVD enriched

Core structured fields are present and their contributing authorities are shown above.

Material change intelligence

What changed after publication

View recent updates ↗
  1. ENISA known-exploited stateENISA EUVD now records this CVE in its known-exploited dataset.
    Before
    not listed in ENISA EUVD known-exploited dataset
    After
    listed in ENISA EUVD known-exploited dataset (EUVD-2019-9380)
    ENISA EUVD ↗
  2. ENISA EUVD mappingEUVD-2019-9380 was added to the official ENISA EUVD mapping for this CVE.
    Before
    not recorded
    After
    {"euvdId":"EUVD-2019-9380"}
    ENISA EUVD ↗
  3. Vendor guidanceAuthoritative vendor guidance changed: removed remediation: cyber.gc.ca/citrix-security-advisory-2.
    Before
    remediation: cyber.gc.ca/citrix-security-advisory-2 · vendor advisory: support.citrix.com/CTX267027
    After
    vendor advisory: support.citrix.com/CTX267027
    support.citrix.com ↗
  4. Remediation statusRemediation status changed from Mitigation available to Awaiting fix.
    Before
    Mitigation available
    After
    Awaiting fix
    support.citrix.com ↗
  5. Affected versionsThe structured affected or fixed version information changed.
    Before
    n/a: n/a · Fixed: No fixed version is explicitly recorded in the structured CVE data.
    After
    n/a · Fixed: No fixed version is explicitly recorded in the structured CVE data.
    CISA KEV ↗
  6. Affected versionsThe structured affected or fixed version information changed.
    Before
    n/a · Fixed: No fixed version is explicitly recorded in the structured CVE data.
    After
    n/a: n/a · Fixed: No fixed version is explicitly recorded in the structured CVE data.
    CNA ↗
  7. Vendor guidanceAuthoritative vendor guidance changed: added vendor advisory: support.citrix.com/CTX267027.
    Before
    no authoritative guidance recorded
    After
    vendor advisory: support.citrix.com/CTX267027
    support.citrix.com ↗
  8. CVSS scoreCVSS scoring authority changed from CISA ADP to NIST NVD; the displayed base score remained 9.8.
    Before
    9.8 (CVSS 3.1 · CISA ADP · CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H)
    After
    9.8 (CVSS 3.1 · NIST NVD · CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H)
    NIST NVD ↗
  9. Catalogue recordCVE added to the BlackTree catalogue.
    CNA ↗
  10. Remediation statusRemediation status changed from Awaiting fix to Mitigation available.
    Before
    Awaiting fix
    After
    Mitigation available
    Canadian Centre for Cyber Security ↗
Material fields only · duplicate refreshes suppressed · history retained for the configured operational retention period
Technical terms and abbreviations used in this report
CVE
Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures: the public identifier for one disclosed vulnerability.
CVSS
Common Vulnerability Scoring System: a technical severity framework; it is not patching priority by itself.
EPSS
Exploit Prediction Scoring System: FIRST's estimate of the probability that exploitation activity will be observed in the next 30 days; it is a forecast, not confirmation.
CWE
Common Weakness Enumeration: the standard category describing the underlying software or hardware weakness.
CNA
CVE Numbering Authority: an organisation authorised to assign and publish CVE records.
CISA ADP
Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Authorized Data Publisher: structured enrichment added to a CVE record.
NVD
National Vulnerability Database: NIST's enrichment service for CVE records.
CERT / CSIRT
A computer security incident response team that publishes warnings or coordinates incident response.
PoC
Proof of concept: public material that demonstrates or helps reproduce exploitation.
CSAF
Common Security Advisory Framework: a machine-readable format for security advisories.
LoTL
Living off the land: abuse of legitimate tools or system functions during an attack.
Free version - for non-commercial use only.CVE-2019-19781 · cve.blacktree.nl