CVE-2021-20022SonicWall Email Security Unrestricted Upload of File Vulnerability
CVE-2021-20022 is a unrestricted file upload in SonicWall Email Security, rated high (7.2 on CVSS 3.1).
Why this priority: Exploited in the wild: listed in CISA's KEV catalog.
Published · Updated · NVD status: Analyzed
What it is
Files of dangerous types can be uploaded, and the server may run or serve them.
How it is reached
An attacker can exploit it over the network, with an administrator account, and nobody has to click anything.
What an attacker gains
A successful attack can read the data it protects, change data or behaviour and take it offline. In practice, this kind of flaw lets an attacker place a file the server will run or serve to others.
Is it being exploited?
CISA added it to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on 2021-11-03: it is being exploited in the wild. CISA links it to ransomware campaigns. It can be exploited automatically, at scale. EPSS estimates a 17% chance of exploitation activity in the next 30 days, higher than 97% of scored CVEs.
What to do
- Treat it as urgent: it is on CISA's KEV list. CISA's deadline for US federal agencies: 2021-11-17.
- Upgrade SonicWall Email Security to 10.0.9.6103 or later. Other affected products have their own fixed versions on this page.
- Until it is patched, review who holds accounts that can reach it.
- Check exposed instances for signs of compromise, not only for the version.
Description from NVD
SonicWall Email Security version 10.0.9.x contains a vulnerability that allows a post-authenticated attacker to upload an arbitrary file to the remote host.
What this means for your architecture.
A CVE names a product. Whether it matters depends on where that product sits in your systems: what reaches it, which trust boundary it guards and what it can reach once compromised. Veriom maps your components, their relationships and your trust boundaries from your code, cloud and delivery evidence, so you can see where a component like this sits. The radar itself does not look at your systems.
Components it touches
- Network edge devices: VPNs, firewalls, routers and gateways. They sit between the internet and internal networks, so a flaw in one is often the first step into everything behind it.
- Operating systems on servers, workstations or devices. Everything on the host inherits the flaw.
- Upload endpoints and the storage behind them. The flaw sits between uploaded content and the servers that store or serve it.
Trust boundaries in play
- Authenticated network access. An account is needed, so exposure follows who can sign in: customers, partners or staff.
- Between uploaded content and the servers that store or serve it. An attacker who crosses it can place a file the server will run or serve to others.
Questions to answer about your own systems
- Where does SonicWall Email Security run in your systems, and at which version?
- Which of those instances can be reached from the internet or partner networks?
- What can it reach once compromised: which data stores, secrets and services?
Sources
- CVE records and CVSS scores from the NVD CVE API. This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD.
- Exploitation status from CISA’s Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog.
- Exploit likelihood from FIRST’s Exploit Prediction Scoring System (EPSS), refreshed daily.
- Explanations are written by Veriom from fixed templates over each record’s data, not by a person reviewing each CVE. Descriptions are quoted from the records as published.