Command Injection in Sophos Web Appliance (CVE-2016-9553)
Summary
Command injection in Sophos Web Appliance (CVE-2016-9553). Successful exploitation can lead to full system takeover.
Original description
The description as published by the source.
The Sophos Web Appliance (version 4.2.1.3) is vulnerable to two Remote Command Injection vulnerabilities affecting its web administrative interface. These vulnerabilities occur in the MgrReport.php (/controllers/MgrReport.php) component responsible for blocking and unblocking IP addresses from accessing the device. The device doesn't properly escape the information passed in the variables 'unblockip' and 'blockip' before calling the shell_exec() function which allows for system commands to be injected into the device. The code erroneously suggests that the information handled is protected by utilizing the variable name 'escapedips' - however this was not the case. The Sophos ID is NSWA-1258.
Source: NIST National Vulnerability Database NVD
Auto-generated summary
Assembled by SecPulse from the source data (CVSS, CWE, affected versions) using templates — no AI involved. Check the original description and references below for exact details.
A vulnerability tracked as CVE-2016-9553 has been found in Sophos Web Appliance.
Successful exploitation can lead to full system takeover. CVSS score: 7.2/10.
What to do: apply the vendor's official patched release.
If unsure, ask your IT team or search "Sophos Web Appliance CVE-2016-9553" on the vendor's site.
CVE-2016-9553 (Sophos Web Appliance) — CWE-77 / CVSS v3 7.2
Attack vector: remote (network-reachable) / no user interaction
Plan: 1) Audit SBOM/dependencies, 2) Stage→prod upgrade, 3) Add WAF/proxy monitoring on affected endpoints, 4) Hunt IOCs in logs.
Refs: see the GHSA / vendor advisory / patched release linked on this page.
A vulnerability (CWE-77) exists in Sophos Web Appliance.
Check the vendor advisory for the affected versions of Sophos Web Appliance.
Severity: High (CVSS 7.2/10). Successful exploitation can lead to full system takeover.
Update to the patched release per vendor advisory.
Until the patch is applied: disable the affected feature, apply WAF rules, or restrict access via network ACLs.
Search webserver/proxy logs for unusual request patterns matching this CVE's known IOCs. Audit SBOM/dependencies to find affected services.
Response actions
Concrete steps and command examples for SOC/SRE teams to execute in order
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1Identify exposure identify
Audit SBOM/dependencies for affected components.資産台帳・SBOM・依存マニフェストで Sophos Web Appliance を使っているサービスとバージョンを洗い出す。
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2Post-deployment verification verify
Confirm patched version is live in productionパッチ適用後、ステージングで PoC または同等の悪用パターンを再現して脆弱性が閉じたことを確認。本番ではアクセスログ・WAF でアラート再発が無いか継続監視。
References
- advisory securityfocus.com
- exploit pastebin.com
- web swa.sophos.com
- web community.sophos.com