Nonlinear propagation of ion-acoustic (IA) waves in a degenerate dense plasma (with all the constituents being degenerate, for both the non-relativistic or ultrarelativistic cases) have been investigated by the reductive perturbation method. The linear dispersion relation and Korteweg de Vries (KdV) equation have been derived, and the numerical solutions of KdV equation have been analysed to identify the basic features of electrostatic solitary structures that may form in such a degenerate dense plasma. The implications of our results in compact astrophysical objects, particularly, in white dwarfs and neutron stars, have been briefly discussed.