Description

Improper Control of Generation of Code ('Code Injection') Vulnerability in the SonicWall Email Security appliance allows an authenticated attacker with access to the SonicWall Email Security restricted CLI can inject arbitrary OS commands that execute as root via netmask.

Executive Summary

Technical Details

Mitigations

References

Additional Metadata

{
  "score": "7.8",
  "pubDate": "2026-08-11T21:17:49.393Z",
  "pubdate": "2026-08-11T21:17:49.393Z",
  "executiveSummary": "An Improper Control of Generation of Code ('Code Injection') vulnerability has been identified in the SonicWall Email Security appliance. This security flaw enables an authenticated malicious actor who has gained access to the restricted Command Line Interface (CLI) of the SonicWall Email Security appliance to inject arbitrary operating system commands. Successful exploitation of this vulnerability results in the execution of injected commands with root privileges. The primary vector for this injection attack is identified as the netmask parameter within the restricted CLI environment.\nThe risk implication of this vulnerability is severe, as it grants full administrative control over the underlying operating system to an attacker who may have started with restricted privileges. The attack requires prior authentication and access to the restricted CLI interface, meaning an adversary must first compromise valid credentials or leverage an existing access vector to reach the command-line environment. Once authenticated, the lack of proper input sanitization and command separation allows the translation of user-supplied input into executable system instructions. This compromises the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the affected system and potentially the broader network infrastructure housing the email security gateway.",
  "technicalDetails": "The root cause of this vulnerability lies in insufficient input validation and improper sanitization within the SonicWall Email Security restricted CLI component. Specifically, the parsing mechanism responsible for processing the netmask parameter fails to adequately neutralize or escape shell metacharacters and command separators before passing the input to the underlying operating system shell for execution.\nThe exploitation method involves an authenticated attacker interacting with the restricted CLI of the SonicWall Email Security appliance. The attacker supplies a crafted payload containing arbitrary OS commands appended or embedded within the netmask parameter input field. Because the vulnerable component insufficiently validates the structure and content of the netmask input, the operating system shell interprets the malicious payload as legitimate execution instructions rather than benign data.\nThe attack flow proceeds as follows: First, the attacker establishes an authenticated session to the restricted CLI of the SonicWall Email Security appliance using valid credentials. Second, the attacker invokes the specific CLI function or command that accepts the netmask argument. Third, the attacker inputs the maliciously crafted netmask string containing injected OS commands. Fourth, the backend application processes the input and insecurely concatenates or passes it to a system shell execution function. Finally, the operating system executes the injected commands with root privileges, yielding complete system compromise for the attacker.\nThe vulnerable component is the restricted CLI interface and its associated backend command-processing scripts handling network configuration parameters such as the netmask. Authentication is required to exploit this vulnerability, as the attacker must possess valid credentials to access the restricted CLI. The privilege requirement at the point of entry is restricted CLI access; however, the post-exploitation privilege level achieved is root due to the lack of privilege separation during command execution. The payload behavior consists of executing arbitrary system-level commands in the security context of the root user, enabling actions such as backdoor installation, data exfiltration, system manipulation, and lateral movement within the network."
}