CVE-2026-10520: critical Ivanti Sentry root RCE flaw

Ivanti Sentry is a gateway between mobile devices and enterprise resources. That position makes CVE-2026-10520, disclosed on 9 June 2026, particularly dangerous: an unauthenticated remote attacker can execute operating-system commands as root. The vulnerability received a maximum CVSS 10.0 score and entered the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalogue two days after publication.

Ivanti also fixed CVE-2026-10523, an authentication bypass that allows arbitrary administrator accounts to be created. It is a separate critical CVSS 9.9 issue. Both require immediate patching, but CISA’s confirmed-exploitation entry specifically covers CVE-2026-10520.

What the vulnerabilities allow

According to the Ivanti advisory:

• CVE-2026-10520 is OS command injection, remotely exploitable without credentials or user interaction, with code execution as root.
• CVE-2026-10523 bypasses authentication and lets an unauthenticated attacker create administrative accounts.

The first issue provides control of the underlying appliance. The second creates a legitimate-looking persistence route through an administrator identity. Because the gateway connects to sensitive internal services, impact may extend beyond Sentry itself.

Affected and fixed versions

Ivanti and CERT-EU identify three affected release lines:

• 10.5.1 and earlier: update to 10.5.2;
• 10.6.1 and earlier: update to 10.6.2;
• 10.7.0 and earlier: update to 10.7.1.

Verify the running version directly. Edge appliances are often missing from inventory or managed by a third party, which can delay critical remediation.

Exploitation followed disclosure rapidly

The timeline illustrates the short defensive window:

• 9 June: Ivanti published the advisory and fixed releases;
• 10 June: Shadowserver added detection for exposed systems and observed public proof-of-concept activity;
• 11 June: CISA added CVE-2026-10520 to the KEV catalogue;
• Shadowserver began reporting artefacts and web shells associated with compromised Sentry systems.

KEV means evidence of exploitation exists. It does not identify the actor behind every attempt or provide a complete victim count.

Why patching is not the end of the response

An update closes the vulnerability for future attempts, but it does not automatically remove accounts, web shells or configuration changes created earlier. If Sentry was internet-accessible while vulnerable, investigate possible historical compromise.

Administrator response plan

1. Update to the correct fixed release without waiting for a routine window when the appliance is reachable from an untrusted network.
2. Define the exposure period: record the vulnerable version, reachable interfaces and exact patch time.
3. Preserve evidence before rebuilding: logs, configuration, accounts, processes and unusual files.
4. Hunt for persistence: unknown administrators, web shells, changed settings, extra files and suspicious outbound connections. Shadowserver identifies relevant reports with artefacts such as ivanti-sentry, injected-code and backdoor.
5. Analyse systems on both sides of the gateway, including authentication and access to internal services.
6. Rotate exposed secrets: passwords, tokens, API keys and service accounts available from Sentry.
7. Rebuild from a trusted source after confirmed compromise rather than deleting isolated traces manually.

Keep exploitation claims separate

CISA added CVE-2026-10520 to KEV. Do not state that CVE-2026-10523 has separately confirmed exploitation at the same scale without another source. The issues affect the same product and were patched together, but their exploitation status must remain distinct.

CVE-2026-10520 has every characteristic of the highest operational priority: network reachability, no authentication, root execution, a public proof of concept and confirmed exploitation. Patch to 10.5.2, 10.6.2 or 10.7.1, then investigate previously exposed appliances rather than assuming that “patched” means “clean”.

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Sources: Ivanti advisory, CERT-EU 2026-008, CISA KEV, Shadowserver reporting.