The Sophos Web Appliance Remote / Secure Web Gateway server (version 4.2.1.3) is…
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Network
- Privileges required
- High
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- Code execution
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- High · High · High
- Fix status
- No fix listed
Attack profile from CVSS 3.0 · NVD. Fix status from CNA. Impact type from CWE-77.
Summary
The Sophos Web Appliance Remote / Secure Web Gateway server (version 4.2.1.3) is vulnerable to a Remote Command Injection vulnerability in its web administrative interface. These vulnerabilities occur in MgrDiagnosticTools.php (/controllers/MgrDiagnosticTools.php), in the component responsible for performing diagnostic tests with the UNIX wget utility. The application doesn't properly escape the information passed in the 'url' variable before calling the executeCommand class function ($this->dtObj->executeCommand). This function calls exec() with unsanitized user input allowing for remote command injection. The page that contains the vulnerabilities, /controllers/MgrDiagnosticTools.php, is accessed by a built-in command answered by the administrative interface. The command that calls to that vulnerable page (passed in the 'section' parameter) is: 'configuration'. Exploitation of this vulnerability yields shell access to the remote machine under the 'spiderman' user account.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
Not available: CISA has not published SSVC decision points for this record.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | — | all versions | — | No fix listed | CNA |
- — Vendor— Affected all versions Fixed in — No fix listed CNA
Remediation
No fixed version listed by the sources yet.
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2016-9554
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-h9p6-824j-f26j
References
More Sophos Web Appliance vulnerabilities
- TI-2023-01568 Command injection in Sophos Web Appliance KEVCVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
- TI-2014-02285 The Change Password dialog box (change_password) in Sophos Web Appliance before 3.8.2… CVSS 2.0HIGH 8.5
- TI-2014-02286 The network interface configuration page (netinterface) in Sophos Web Appliance before… CVSS 2.0HIGH 8.5
- TI-2013-02325 Directory traversal vulnerability in patience.cgi in Sophos Web Appliance before 3.7.8.2… CVSS 2.0MEDIUM 5.0
- TI-2017-04046 In Sophos Web Appliance (SWA) before 4.3.1.2, a section of the machine's interface… CVSS 3.0CRITICAL 9.8
- TI-2023-16494 Reflected cross site scripting (XSS) vulnerability was discovered in Sophos Web Appliance… CVSS 3.1MEDIUM 4.8
Sources
- CVE-2016-9554 · CVE Program
- CVE-2016-9554 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-h9p6-824j-f26j · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. Sources and licences