CVE-2016-9554

What it is

The Sophos Web Appliance Remote / Secure Web Gateway server (version 4.2.1.3) is vulnerable to a Remote Command Injection vulnerability in its web administrative interface. These vulnerabilities occur in MgrDiagnosticTools.php (/controllers/MgrDiagnosticTools.php), in the component responsible for performing diagnostic tests with the UNIX wget utility. The application doesn't properly escape the information passed in the 'url' variable before calling the executeCommand class function ($this->dtObj->executeCommand). This function calls exec() with unsanitized user input allowing for remote command injection. The page that contains the vulnerabilities, /controllers/MgrDiagnosticTools.php, is accessed by a built-in command answered by the administrative interface. The command that calls to that vulnerable page (passed in the 'section' parameter) is: 'configuration'. Exploitation of this vulnerability yields shell access to the remote machine under the 'spiderman' user account.

At a glance

Exploitability

Can be exploited over the network with an admin-level account. High risk of data exposure, data tampering, service disruption.

Exploit odds

25.1% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days (EPSS). Higher than most.

Fix

No patch or advisory is linked yet. Look at mitigations or restrict exposure.

Timeline

1. 2017-01-28 12:59 UTC PublishedDisclosed publicly on CVE.org and NVD
2. 2026-06-17 00:56 UTC Last updatedMost recent change to the record

Why it ranks here

• Exploited in the wild: no, CISA does not list it.
• Exploit odds: 25.1% in the next 30 days (EPSS).
• Severity: 7.2 HIGH (CVSS).
• Fix: none linked yet, which raises it.

Details

Published

2017-01-28 12:59 UTC

Last modified

2026-06-17 00:56 UTC

Exploit probability

25.1% · EPSS, next 30 days

Weakness

CWE-77 · Command injection

Record status

Modified

Affected

• Sophos Web Appliance 4.2.1.3

Attack profile CVSS 3.0 · 7.2

Attack vector

Network

Complexity

Low

Privileges needed

High

User interaction

None

Scope

Unchanged

Confidentiality

High

Integrity

High

Availability

High

Is it in your code?

Hand this to your coding agent. It searches your project for the affected products and checks versions. Nothing leaves your machine.

Read https://cve-list.com/agent/cve/CVE-2016-9554.md and follow it. Check whether this project is affected by CVE-2016-9554. Read only. Don't change anything and don't upload my code. Tell me yes, no or not sure, with the file as proof.

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