CVE-2020-25223 KEVPublic exploit Critical · 9.8 EPSS 96.8%

Sophos SG UTM Remote Code Execution Vulnerability

Sophos · SG UTM

Summary

The Sophos SG UTM product has a remote code execution flaw in its WebAdmin component, affecting releases before v9.705 MR5, v9.607 MR7, and v9.511 MR11, caused by improper neutralization of special elements used in an OS command. An attacker with network access can exploit it without authentication or user interaction to execute arbitrary code on the affected device.

Official description · NVD

A remote code execution vulnerability exists in the WebAdmin of Sophos SG UTM before v9.705 MR5, v9.607 MR7, and v9.511 MR11

Breakdown

73.7 / 100

Exploited: Yes, in CISA KEV
Reports: 1
Tactics: 2/15

How an attack unfolds

Based on mappings. Select a step to see the evidence.

How attackers get in
- Break in through an internet-facing appT1190 · Exploit Public-Facing ApplicationAI-written (claude-haiku-5-5)Medium confidence149 general detection rules
What they do
- Run commands on the systemT1059 · Command and Scripting InterpreterAI-written (claude-haiku-5-5)Medium confidence95 general detection rules

First seen exploited 18 months after disclosure. Public exploit code (Metasploit) was available 7 days before disclosure.

Public exploit codeMetasploit18 Sep 20207 days before
Disclosed25 Sep 2020day 0
First seen exploitedVulnCheck KEV evidenceAdded to CISA KEVEU database agrees25 Mar 2022+18 mo

CISA KEV listing is when exploitation was confirmed, not necessarily the first attack.

techniques

2 , grouped by in kill-chain order, 4 cited passages 2

Initial AccessTA0001

Exploit Public-Facing Application T1190 Medium

AI mapping from the description · how it is exploited

Remote exploit against public-facing web administration interface; TRAM2 annotated sentence label

A remote code execution vulnerability exists in the WebAdmin

From the official description (NVD) Original ↗

softwareCVE-2017-17105Zivif PR115-204-P-RSCVE-2019-10655GrandstreamCVE-2020-25223WebAdmin of Sophos SG UTMCVE-2021-42013ApacheCVE-2022-31137Roxy-WICVE-2022-33891Apache SparkZSL-2022-5717MiniDVBLinuxSince the release of Zerobot 1.1, the malware operators have removed CVE-2018-12613, a phpMyAdmin vulnerability that could allow threat actors to view or execute files.

Microsoft research uncovers new Zerobot capabilities microsoft.com Original ↗

ExecutionTA0002

Command and Scripting Interpreter T1059 Medium

AI mapping from the description · primary impact

Remote code execution yields command execution

A remote code execution vulnerability exists in the WebAdmin

From the official description (NVD) Original ↗

Detection

0 rules for this CVE · 244 general rules for its techniques

Rules for this CVE

0 that reference CVE-2020-25223 directly.

CVE-specific rules are not available in this build. Search SigmaHQ ↗

General rules for this CVE’s techniques

These detect the technique in general, not this specific vulnerability.

Exploit Public-Facing ApplicationT1190149 general rules

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CVE-2010-5278 Exploitation Attemptcriticaltest
CVE-2020-0688 Exchange Exploitation via Web Logcriticaltest
CVE-2020-10148 SolarWinds Orion API Auth Bypasscriticaltest
CVE-2020-5902 F5 BIG-IP Exploitation Attemptcriticaltest

All 149 on SigmaHQ ↗

Command and Scripting InterpreterT105995 general rules

HackTool - Sliver C2 Implant Activity Patterncriticaltest
Lazarus Group Activitycriticaltest
REvil Kaseya Incident Malware Patternscriticaltest
Turla Group Lateral Movementcriticaltest
Windows Defender AMSI Trigger Detectedhighstable
Windows Defender Threat Detectedhighstable
Abusable DLL Potential Sideloading From Suspicious Locationhightest
Add Insecure Download Source To Wingethightest

All 95 on SigmaHQ ↗

Sigma rules © SigmaHQ, Detection Rule License 1.1; linked, not reproduced.

What security researchers reported

Named in 1 threat report

1 reportMicrosoft

Reports are matched by finding the exact id CVE-2020-25223 in their text; nobody has reviewed the match. One passage is shown per report, at most 320 characters, linked to the original.

MicrosoftUndated

Microsoft research uncovers new Zerobot capabilities

…softwareCVE-2017-17105Zivif PR115-204-P-RSCVE-2019-10655GrandstreamCVE-2020-25223WebAdmin of Sophos SG UTMCVE-2021-42013ApacheCVE-2022-31137Roxy-WICVE-2022-33891Apache SparkZSL-2022-5717MiniDVBLinuxSince the release of Zerobot 1.1, the malware operators have removed CVE-2018-12613, a phpMyAdmin…

Original (opens in a new tab) ↗

Also mentioned in 50 community threat pulses (AlienVault OTX)

Weaker evidence

Pulses are indicator collections that anyone can publish. A mention is not confirmation of exploitation.

Actively_Exploited_Kev | Oct 29, 202628 Oct 2026
Actively_Exploited_Kev | Oct 28, 202627 Oct 2026
Actively_Exploited_Kev | Oct 27, 202626 Oct 2026
Actively_Exploited_Kev | Oct 24, 202623 Oct 2026
Actively_Exploited_Kev | Oct 23, 202622 Oct 2026
Actively_Exploited_Kev | Oct 22, 202621 Oct 2026
44 more on OTX

References

6 links, grouped by NVD tag (5 duplicates merged)

Exploitation evidence

Exploited in the wild

Listed since 25 Mar 2022. Federal due date 15 Apr 2022. No recorded ransomware use.

Apply updates per vendor instructions.

ENISA

Marked exploited since 25 Mar 2022. EUVD-2020-17913

Public exploitAdvisories link exploit code.

, 30 Oct 2026

96.8%Top 0.11%

Chance of exploitation in the next 30 days. of scored CVEs (riskier than 99.89%).

3.1

9.8Critical · 9.8

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

Priority factorsFormula

In a KEV cataloglisted in CISA KEV and VulnCheck KEV 35.0/35

Recent KEV listingadded 1681 days ago 0.0/10

Known ransomware usenot known 0.0/10

EPSS percentilepercentile 0.9989 20.0/20

Threat reports1 report 3.9/10

Public exploit code2 NVD references tagged Exploit; 2 PoC-in-GitHub repos; 1 Metasploit module; 1 nuclei template 5.0/5

Mentioned in OTX pulses50 pulses 3.0/3

CVSS base scorebase score 9.8 6.9/7

End-of-life productsupported or unknown 0.0

Total73.7

Record

Published: 25 Sep 2020
Modified: 17 Jun 2026
: CWE-78 Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an OS Command
Elsewhere: NVD CVE.org KEV JSON

How an attack unfolds

1How attackers get in

2What they do

Exploitation timelineExploitation timelineDated milestones for a CVE: when it was disclosed, when exploit code became public, when exploitation was confirmed, and when threat reports named it.

ATT&CKMITRE ATT&CKA public catalogue of the techniques attackers use, maintained by MITRE. Patchfirst uses it to describe what attackers do with a vulnerability. techniques

Initial AccessTA0001

ExecutionTA0002

Detection

Rules for this CVE

General rules for this CVE’s techniques

What security researchers reported

Microsoft research uncovers new Zerobot capabilities

Also mentioned in 50 community threat pulses (AlienVault OTX)

References

Vendor Advisory 2

US Government Resource 1

Third Party Advisory 2

Technical Description 1

How attackers get in

What they do

techniques