CVE-2021-20016 is a critical SQL injection vulnerability affecting SonicWall Secure Mobile Access SMA 100 series SSLVPN products in the 10.x build line. The flaw allows a remote, unauthenticated attacker to submit a specially crafted query to the SSLVPN interface, resulting in improper neutralization of SQL commands. Successful exploitation enables direct database query execution against the appliance’s backend data stores and exposure of sensitive information maintained by the VPN platform, including usernames, passwords, and session-related data. The vulnerability was exploited in the wild as a zero-day prior to vendor patch availability and was used as an initial access vector in ransomware intrusions.
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What an attacker gets, and what they’ve been doing with it.
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1 valid exploit after Mallory filtered fakes, detection scripts, and README-only repos.
Repository purpose: a Python-based SonicWall “Security Audit Toolkit” plus a Docker CTF-style lab that simulates and (in solutions) exploits two critical SonicWall CVEs. Top-level structure: - sonicwall_audit.py: main orchestrator CLI that runs modules (ssl, cve, auth, web) against a target https://<host>:<port>, writes JSON/text reports to reports/. - validate_cves.py: standalone deep validators for CVE-2021-20038 and CVE-2024-53704 using non-destructive behavioral checks. - modules/: implementation of auditors/validators and report generation. - lab/: docker-compose lab with two containers: - cve-2021-20038: Apache + deliberately vulnerable 32-bit CGI binary /usr/lib/cgi-bin/sslvpnclient (and symlinks portal/welcome/etc). Protections disabled (no canary, execstack, no PIE, ASLR disabled in entrypoint) to make stack overflow exploitation feasible. - cve-2024-53704: Flask/Gunicorn SSLVPN simulator on 4433 with vulnerable swap cookie deserialization (conditional HMAC verification). - lab/exploits/: skeleton exploit templates (incomplete). - lab/solutions/: working exploits. Exploit capabilities present: 1) CVE-2024-53704 (auth bypass via cookie forgery): Working exploit forges a base64-encoded JSON session cookie named swap with {username, authenticated:true} and omits sig_version so the server skips HMAC verification. It then accesses /virtual-office/ and /dashboard to retrieve the flag. 2) CVE-2021-20038 (stack buffer overflow -> RCE): Working exploit crafts a URL-encoded query string payload to overflow a 4096-byte stack buffer in the CGI handler (strcpy of QUERY_STRING). Payload includes a NOP sled, null-free 32-bit x86 Linux shellcode that runs /bin//sh -c "cat /root/flag.txt", padding to offset 4100, and an attacker-chosen return address into the sled. Output is returned in the HTTP response body. Important distinction: the main toolkit modules and CVE validators are primarily scanners/validators and explicitly avoid destructive exploitation; the actual exploitation code is confined to the lab solution scripts intended for the local practice environment.
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Vendor-confirmed product mapping. Mallory continuously reconciles this list against your asset inventory.
24 sources tracked across advisories, community write-ups, and news. New activity surfaces here as Mallory finds it.
Unauthenticated SQL injection vulnerability in SonicWall SMA100 SSLVPN that can expose credentials and session data.
A historical SonicWall SSLVPN SMA100 SQL injection vulnerability mentioned as background on prior exploitation of SonicWall devices.
Pre-auth SQL injection vulnerability in the SonicWall SMA100 product line mentioned as historical context for recurring perimeter flaws.
A SQL injection vulnerability in SonicWall SSLVPN SMA100.
Query your assets running an affected version, and investigate the blast radius.
Every observed campaign linking this CVE to a named adversary.
Malware families riding this exploit, with evidence and IOCs.
YARA, Sigma, Snort, and vendor rules, auto-deployed to your SIEM.
Cross-references every affected SKU, including bundled OEM variants.
Community discussion across Reddit, Mastodon, and other social sources.