CVE intelligence and bounded remediation

CVE-2016-9553 — Sophos Web Appliance security vulnerability

High CVSS 9

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.

Severity
High
CVSS
9 (2.0)
Published
2017-01-28
CISA KEV
Not currently listed
Ecosystem
software/application
Weaknesses
CWE-77

Affected products

  • sophos / web_appliance / 4.2.1.3

Matched remediation archetype

Command, code, expression, and template injection

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Check exposure

  • Trace untrusted values to process execution, interpreters, evaluators, template engines, dynamic imports, and administrative scripting features.
  • Determine whether the affected path is reachable across each trust boundary and which service account or host privilege it inherits.
  • Review configuration for optional execution features, unsafe compatibility modes, and shell invocation.

Remediate safely

  • Replace string-built commands or evaluated code with fixed operations and structured argument APIs that do not invoke a shell.
  • Use strict allowlists for operation identifiers and reject unexpected input before it reaches any interpreter.
  • Update the affected component and add inert regression tests covering metacharacters, encoding variants, and alternate request paths.

Authoritative sources

Complete CVE record and remediation plan

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