CriticalCVE-2023-35081

    Ivanti Endpoint Manager Mobile (EPMM) Path Traversal Vulnerability (CVE-2023-35081)

    Published In CISA KEV since Sources: pwn.watch, SingCERT, CVE.org

    What is affected, what to do

    A path traversal vulnerability in Ivanti EPMM versions (11.10.x < 11.10.0.3, 11.9.x < 11.9.1.2 and 11.8.x < 11.8.1.2) allows an authenticated administrator to write arbitrary files onto the appliance.

    The vulnerability is being actively exploited; treat it as a priority. The available sources name no fixed version. Check the vendor guidance in the references below. Immediate actions, mitigation and detection rules are in the runbook below.

    Conflicting version data — version display is hidden until the data is resolved.

    Not sure whether and how you are affected? Ask a question about this vulnerability

    Metrics

    7.2

    Priority

    XIEM Effective CVSS: highest available CVSS rating from NVD and vendor data.

    Source: NVD, CVSS v3

    7.2

    CVSS v3

    Severity High on the scale from 0 to 10.

    Source: pwn.watch, SingCERT, CVE.org

    63.6 %

    EPSS score

    High — model estimates ≥ 50% chance of real-world exploitation within 30 days.

    Source: FIRST EPSS, percentile 99.21

    Show all metrics
    Severity
    Critical
    Priority (0–325)

    The priority score is a consolidated metric that condenses several individual signals into a single, action-guiding ranking: technical severity (CVSS), exploitation likelihood (EPSS), known-exploited status (KEV) and the context of the affected asset. The aim is to answer the only truly important question in vulnerability management: what first?

    Read in glossary
    217.89 Methodology
    Exploit maturity

    An exploit is code or a technique that specifically uses a concrete vulnerability to force unintended behaviour — such as executing code or escalating privileges. It is the tool that turns a theoretical flaw into a practical attack.

    Read in glossary
    actively exploitedSource: ANSSI / CERT-FR, CSA/SingCERT How we classify
    XIEM Effective CVSS

    XIEM® is the tiered managed-security operating model from NEOSEC and a registered trademark of NEOSEC GmbH. It extends classic SIEM — the central collection, normalisation and correlation of security-relevant events — with endpoint forensics, network visibility and deception technology, and consolidates them into three building tiers: Sentry, Orchestrate and Command.

    Read in glossary
    7.2 Methodology
    CVSS v3

    CVSS is the globally established, open standard for assessing the technical severity of a vulnerability on a scale from 0 to 10. It describes how easily a flaw can be exploited and what damage it can cause — but not how likely its actual exploitation is. CVSS and the complementary EPSS deliberately answer different questions.

    Read in glossary
    7.2
    EPSS score

    The EPSS score is the absolute model output for an individual vulnerability: the estimated probability of real-world exploitation within the next 30 days, expressed as a value between 0 and 1 (i.e. 0 % to 100 %). A score of 0.42 means „the model estimates a 42 % chance of real-world exploitation within 30 days“.

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    63.6 %
    High — model estimates ≥ 50% chance of real-world exploitation within 30 days.
    EPSS percentile

    The EPSS percentile is the relative position of a vulnerability within all EPSS-scored CVEs, expressed as a value between 0 and 1. A percentile of 0.90 means „this CVE has a higher EPSS score than 90 % of all other scored CVEs“. Unlike the EPSS score, it is not a probability — but a positioning within a ranking.

    Read in glossary
    99.21
    Critical — this CVE ranks in the top fifth of all CVEs scored today (rank ≥ 80%).
    KEV status

    The KEV catalogue is a list maintained by the US authority CISA of vulnerabilities for which active exploitation in the wild has been confirmed. It answers not the question „how severe?“ but „is it already being attacked?“ — thereby sharply prioritising patching.

    Read in glossary
    Actively exploited
    Published
    In CISA KEV since

    The KEV catalogue is a list maintained by the US authority CISA of vulnerabilities for which active exploitation in the wild has been confirmed. It answers not the question „how severe?“ but „is it already being attacked?“ — thereby sharply prioritising patching.

    Read in glossary
    CISA assessment (SSVC)
    Exploitation: active · not automatable · Technical impact: total
    Source: CISA Vulnrichment, as of 27 January 2025
    CWE

    CWE is a catalogue of typical weakness types in software and hardware — such as flawed input validation, unsafe memory handling or poor authentication. Where a CVE names a concrete vulnerability in a concrete product, a CWE describes the underlying class of defect.

    Read in glossary
    CWE-22

    Response and mitigation

    Why act now?

    Prioritisation rationale

    On its own this flaw requires high privileges, but it earned its KEV listing through chaining with CVE-2023-35078: the authentication bypass supplies admin rights, and CVE-2023-35081 turns them into full network-reachable code execution on the appliance by planting webshells. Exploitation likelihood is rated very high; CISA does not flag ransomware campaign use, and typical targets are government bodies and organisations whose MDM is the central control point for every mobile device, user directory data and Active Directory integration. Treat any internet-facing EPMM instance not on the listed versions as critical — remediate within hours and investigate as a suspected compromise — while internal-only instances already patched against CVE-2023-35078 can follow in the regular emergency patch cycle.

    1. Runbook step 1

      Immediate response (0-24 h)

      • Patch now: Upgrade Ivanti EPMM to the fixed releases: 11.10.0.3 (11.10.x branch), 11.9.1.2 (11.9.x branch) or 11.8.1.2 (11.8.x branch). For releases outside these branches, a patch is available from the vendor; look up the target version in the vendor advisory. Move unsupported legacy releases onto a supported branch immediately.
      • Break the chain: Verify the instance is also patched for CVE-2023-35078 (authentication bypass). Chained together, an admin-only file-write bug becomes unauthenticated remote code execution. Treat any internet-facing instance that was unpatched as potentially compromised.
      • Cut exposure: Restrict the admin portal (/mifs/admin), API paths (/mifs/aad/api/, /api/v2/) and the System Manager (MICS, typically TCP 8443) at the perimeter firewall to admin jump hosts or the management VLAN. Leave only the paths strictly required for device enrollment publicly reachable.
      • Rotate credentials: Reset passwords for all EPMM administrators, the LDAP/AD bind account and API service accounts. Reissue integration secrets (e.g. Exchange/Graph, Sentry) if the appliance was exposed before patching.
      • Preserve evidence first: Take a snapshot or forensic image of the appliance and ship web server, audit and system logs off-box before patching. Afterwards, reconcile the admin account list against the expected baseline.

    2. Runbook step 2

      Mitigation layers

      • Network segmentation: Place EPMM in a dedicated DMZ zone. Allowlist appliance egress to required destinations only (Apple APNs, Google FCM, Ivanti update servers, internal LDAP/Exchange); block and log everything else to stop reverse shells and data exfiltration.
      • WAF/IPS: Add rules for HTTP requests to EPMM carrying traversal patterns in the URI or multipart filenames (../, ..%2f, %2e%2e%2f, ..\). Also block unauthenticated access to /mifs/aad/api/v2/ without a valid admin session — the typical CVE-2023-35078 entry point.
      • IAM / least privilege: Reduce the number of accounts holding the EPMM admin role, eliminate shared admin accounts, and enforce MFA or pre-authentication via an upstream reverse proxy for admin logins.
      • Configuration hardening: Disable unused API features and integrations. Configure remote syslog to a central collector the appliance cannot write to, so an attacker with file-write capability cannot wipe local traces.
      • Integrity monitoring: Schedule regular comparison of the web application directory (Tomcat webroot) against a known-good baseline; new .jsp or .war files outside update windows are a compromise indicator.

    3. Runbook step 3

      Detection rules

      • Web access logs (path traversal): Requests to EPMM containing traversal sequences in URI or parameters, especially POST/PUT to upload functions. SPL example: index=epmm sourcetype=access_combined (uri="*../*" OR uri="*%2e%2e%2f*" OR uri="*..%2f*") method IN (POST,PUT)
      • Entry via CVE-2023-35078: Hits on /mifs/aad/api/v2/ from external IPs without a preceding successful admin login, particularly followed by admin actions (account creation, user export). Sigma shape: logsource: webserver | selection: cs-uri-stem|contains: '/mifs/aad/api/v2/' | filter: src_ip in admin_jumphosts | condition: selection and not filter
      • Webshell indicators: First-seen requests to new .jsp files in the webroot returning HTTP 200, followed by requests with parameters such as cmd=, exec= or Base64 payloads. Complement with the directory baseline check above.
      • EPMM audit log: Newly created admin accounts, role changes, bulk exports of device or user data (names, phone numbers, device identifiers) and configuration changes outside change windows.
      • Network telemetry (Zeek/Suricata): Outbound connections from the EPMM appliance to unknown destinations, unusual ports or long-lived sessions (reverse shell, tunnelling). Filter Zeek conn.log on id.orig_h == <EPMM-IP> with destinations outside the egress allowlist.

    Detection rules

    No NEOSEC detection rule is available for this vulnerability yet.

    Classification under NIS2 and CRA

    Rule-based classification from exploitation status and severity. It does not replace a case-by-case assessment.

    NIS2

    NIS2 is EU Directive (EU) 2022/2555 to raise the level of cybersecurity across the Union. It substantially broadens obligations compared with the first NIS directive: more sectors, mandatory risk management, staged reporting duties and personal accountability of senior management.

    Read in glossary
    Actively exploited: treat the vulnerability as a priority in vulnerability handling under Art. 21(2)(e) NIS2. If it is exploited in your environment, check the reporting obligation under Art. 23 (early warning within 24 hours).
    CRA

    The CRA is EU Regulation (EU) 2024/2847 setting horizontal cybersecurity requirements for „products with digital elements“ — from industrial controllers and software to connected consumer devices. For the first time manufacturers must ensure security across the entire product lifecycle, handle vulnerabilities and provide security updates.

    Read in glossary
    Since 11.09.2026, manufacturers of affected products with digital elements must report actively exploited vulnerabilities under Art. 14 CRA, with an early warning within 24 hours via ENISA's single reporting platform.
    ISO/IEC 27001

    ISO/IEC 27001 is the internationally leading standard for an information security management system (ISMS). It describes a risk-based, process-oriented framework to systematically plan, implement, review and improve information security.

    Read in glossary
    Control A.8.8, management of technical vulnerabilities: assess relevance to your systems, plan remediation and keep evidence.

    Description

    A path traversal vulnerability in Ivanti EPMM versions (11.10.x < 11.10.0.3, 11.9.x < 11.9.1.2 and 11.8.x < 11.8.1.2) allows an authenticated administrator to write arbitrary files onto the appliance.

    Source: pwn.watch, CSA/SingCERT, NVD (NIST), cvelistv5, CISA KEV Catalog, CVE.org (MITRE)

    Affected products

    The following versions are affected. Older releases of the same product line are also vulnerable unless stated otherwise.

    Affected products
    Affected versionsFixed in
    IvantiEPMM
    • < 11.10.0.3
    • 11.10.0.3
    ivantiendpoint_manager_mobile
    • 11.9.0 – < 11.9.1.2
    • 11.8.0 – < 11.8.1.2
    • 11.10.0 – < 11.10.0.3
    • 11.9.1.2
    • 11.8.1.2
    • 11.10.0.3

    Vendors and products

    Weakness classes (CWE)

    • CWE-22Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal')

      Base

      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.

      Entry at MITRE CWE-22

    Public exploit references

    Publicly reported proof-of-concepts, exploit modules and detection templates for this vulnerability. NEOSEC links to the original sources only and does not provide any exploit code.

    Public exploit references
    CISA KEV CatalogCISA Known Exploited Vulnerability (opens in a new tab)cisa.govactively exploited
    CSA/SingCERTActive Exploitation of High-Severity Vulnerability in Ivanti Endpoint Manager Mobile (EPMM) (opens in a new tab)CSA/SingCERTactively exploited
    ANSSI / CERT-FRLicence Ouverte 2.0, as of CERTFR-2023-ALE-009 – [MàJ] Multiples vulnérabilités dans Ivanti Endpoint Manager Mobile (clôturée 2023-09-15) (opens in a new tab)cert.cyber.gouv.fractively exploited

    References & sources

    • forums.ivanti.coms/article/CVE-2023-35081-Arbitrary-File-Write?language=en_USVendor advisory
    • cisa.govknown-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2023-35081government-resource, US government resource
    • cert.cyber.gouv.frANSSI / CERT-FR: CERTFR-2023-ALE-009 – [MàJ] Multiples vulnérabilités dans Ivanti Endpoint Manager Mobile (clôturée 2023-09-15)cert-fr
    • pwn.watchpwn.watch: Ivanti EPMM zero-days used to breach 12 Norwegian ministriespwn-watch
    • cisa.govThreat Actors Exploiting Ivanti EPMM Vulnerabilities (AA23-213A)pwn-watch
    • regjeringen.noMinistries hit by cyber-attackspwn-watch
    • regjeringen.noShutdown of e-mail solution following cyberattackpwn-watch
    • bleepingcomputer.comNorway says Ivanti zero-day was used to hack govt IT systemspwn-watch
    • NVD (NIST)NVD: CVE-2023-35078pwn-watch
    • NVD (NIST)NVD: CVE-2023-35081pwn-watch
    • cisa.govCISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalogpwn-watch
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