CVE-2024-40766 is a critical improper access control vulnerability in SonicWall SonicOS affecting management access and the SSLVPN service on SonicWall Gen 5, Gen 6, and Gen 7 firewalls. Affected versions include Gen 5 SonicOS 5.9.2.14-12o and earlier, Gen 6 SonicOS 6.5.4.14-109n and earlier, and Gen 7 SonicOS 7.0.1-5035 and earlier. Successful exploitation can allow an unauthenticated attacker to gain unauthorized access to sensitive resources exposed through the management or SSLVPN interfaces. Under certain conditions, exploitation can also cause the firewall to crash. Reporting also indicates risk associated with migrated or locally managed SSLVPN accounts whose credentials were not reset after patching or platform migration, which can leave organizations exposed even after firmware updates.
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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.
191 sources tracked across advisories, community write-ups, and news. New activity surfaces here as Mallory finds it.
A specific vulnerability affecting SonicWall SSL VPN that the report says was among the most exploited by ransomware groups during the period discussed.
A vulnerability in SonicWall SonicOS SSL VPN that was mass-exploited by the Akira ransomware group during 2024–2025.
A historical SonicWall SonicOS improper access control vulnerability mentioned as background on prior exploitation of SonicWall devices.
Критическая уязвимость improper access control в SonicWall SonicOS, доступная по сети без аутентификации и отмеченная как используемая в ransomware-кампаниях.
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.