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HIGH · CVSS 7.2 CISA Known Exploited Vulnerability

CVE-2023-44221

SonicWall SMA100 Appliances OS Command Injection Vulnerability

SonicWall SMA100 Appliances

Improper neutralization of special elements in the SMA100 SSL-VPN management interface allows a remote authenticated attacker with administrative privilege to inject arbitrary commands as a 'nobody' user, potentially leading to OS Command Injection Vulnerability.

CVSS
7.2
HIGH
EPSS
76.3%
30-day exploitation
Ransomware groups
0
recorded exploiting
Published
5 Dec 2023
CWE-78

Exploitation status

CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities

Listed by CISA on 1 May 2025. US federal agencies were required to remediate it by 22 May 2025.

EPSS — exploitation probability

FIRST puts the probability of exploitation activity in the next 30 days at 76.3%, which is higher than 99.5% of all scored vulnerabilities. EPSS is a forecast of activity, not a measure of severity, and it is rescored daily.

CVSS vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Frequently asked questions

Is CVE-2023-44221 being exploited by ransomware groups?

No ransomware group in this database is currently recorded as exploiting CVE-2023-44221.

What does CVE-2023-44221 affect?

CVE-2023-44221 affects SonicWall SMA100 Appliances. Improper neutralization of special elements in the SMA100 SSL-VPN management interface allows a remote authenticated attacker with administrative privilege to inject arbitrary commands as a 'nobody' user, potentially leading to OS Command Injection Vulnerability.

How severe is CVE-2023-44221?

CVE-2023-44221 is rated HIGH with a CVSS base score of 7.2. EPSS puts the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days at 76.3%, higher than 99.5% of all scored vulnerabilities. It is listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, with a federal remediation deadline of 22 May 2025.

How should organisations respond to CVE-2023-44221?

Apply the vendor patch for SonicWall SMA100 Appliances as the first priority, and treat any internet-facing instance as the most urgent. Because this vulnerability is associated with ransomware activity, also review whether the affected systems were reachable before patching, rather than assuming that patching alone closes the incident.