CVE intelligence and bounded remediation

CVE-2021-20025 — Sonicwall Email Security Virtual Appliance security vulnerability

High CVSS 7.8

SonicWall Email Security Virtual Appliance version 10.0.9 and earlier versions contain a default username and a password that is used at initial setup. An attacker could exploit this transitional/temporary user account from the trusted domain to access the Virtual Appliance remotely only when the device is freshly installed and not connected to Mysonicwall.

Severity
High
CVSS
7.8 (3.1)
Published
2021-05-13
CISA KEV
Not currently listed
Ecosystem
software/application
Weaknesses
CWE-798

Affected products

  • sonicwall / email_security_virtual_appliance

Matched remediation archetype

Authentication bypass and missing authentication

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Check exposure

  • Map every affected endpoint and protocol path, including alternate ports, legacy routes, recovery flows, service accounts, and machine-to-machine access.
  • Confirm which deployments enable the affected authentication mode and whether the interface is reachable from untrusted networks.
  • Review session, token, credential, and proxy trust configuration without attempting account takeover.

Remediate safely

  • Apply the supported fix and centralize fail-closed authentication before protected request handling.
  • Remove default or embedded credentials, rotate affected secrets and sessions, and bind authentication decisions to the intended audience and channel.
  • Add negative tests for alternate routes, malformed or absent credentials, recovery flows, and proxy-derived identity.

Authoritative sources

Complete CVE record and remediation plan

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