The Proofpoint Insider Threat Management Server (formerly ObserveIT Server) before 7.9.1 contains a vulnerability in the ITM application ser
The Proofpoint Insider Threat Management Server (formerly ObserveIT Server) before 7.9.1 contains a vulnerability in the ITM application server's WriteImage API. The vulnerability allows an anonymous remote attacker to execute arbitrary code with local administrator privileges. The vulnerability is caused by improper deserialization.
- Published
- Jan 6, 2021
- Updated
- Jun 16, 2026
- EPSS
- 2.7% · 85th percentile
- CWE
- CWE-502
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Report tools
Action score
40
Plan
Add it to your regular patch cycle.
- CVSS
- 39 / 40 · 9.8 / 10
- CISA KEV
- 0 / 30 · Not listed
- EPSS
- 1 / 30 · 2.7%
Affected systems
| Vendor | Product | CPE |
|---|---|---|
| proofpoint | insider threat management server | cpe:2.3:a:proofpoint:insider_threat_management_server |
Affected versions
NVD version ranges (for catalog products). Add the product to your stack with a version and matching uses these.
- proofpoint insider threat management serverbefore 7.9.1
Same product
proofpoint: all recordsOther highest-scoring records for the same primary product.
- CVE-2020-10656The Proofpoint Insider Threat Management Server (formerly ObserveIT Server) before 7.9.1 contains a vulnerability in the ITM application ser40Plan
- CVE-2020-10655The Proofpoint Insider Threat Management Server (formerly ObserveIT Server) before 7.9.1 contains a vulnerability in the ITM application ser40Plan
- CVE-2021-40842Proofpoint Insider Threat Management Server contains a SQL injection vulnerability in the Web Console.39Monitor
- CVE-2021-40843Proofpoint Insider Threat Management Server contains an unsafe deserialization vulnerability in the Web Console.29Monitor
- CVE-2020-10657The Proofpoint Insider Threat Management Server (formerly ObserveIT Server) before 7.9.1 contains a vulnerability in the ITM web console's I29Monitor
- CVE-2023-36000ITM Server Missing Authorization for Agent Config26Monitor
Remediation
Which version to upgrade to
Fix versions compiled from the vendor, package registries and Microsoft. Verify the vendor's note before upgrading.
No fix version is recorded for this entry. Check the references for vendor advisories.
Exploit status
No known public exploit
No public exploit has been observed yet. That doesn't mean you're safe, only that the bar is a little higher.
Research context
For pentesters and researchers: attack profile, score disagreement, timeline, patch commits, credits, variant and chain candidates, bug bounty scope. All derived from existing data; no exploit code.
Timeline
From publication to today: proof of concept, Metasploit module, CISA KEV and fix record. Dates are as reported by the sources.
No dated events beyond publication.
FIRST EPSS daily score; only changes of 0.01 or more are recorded (step chart).
Patch and commit links
Commit, PR and diff links among the references. A starting point for patch-diffing and variant hunting; fixes, not exploits.
No commit or PR link among the references.
Credits
All researchersFinders, reporters and analysts named in the CNA record. Click a name for that researcher’s other records.
No credits in the CNA record.
Variant candidates
Same product, same weakness class, within 18 months. If the patch missed the root cause, the sibling bug is here.
No nightly-computed relations.
Chain candidates
An authentication bypass and a privilege-requiring bug in the same product, published close together: combined they may become an unauthenticated path.
—
Bug bounty scope
No known public program.
Source: bounty-targets-data (public HackerOne, Bugcrowd, Intigriti, YesWeHack listings).
Technical details
Attack conditions
- Anyone who can reach it over the internet can trigger it.
- No account or password is required.
- No user action is required.
- No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.
If successful
- Confidentiality
- high · data can be read
- Integrity
- high · data or configuration can be modified
- Availability
- high · the service can be disrupted
- Attack vector
- Network
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality impact
- High
- Integrity impact
- High
- Availability impact
- High
Weakness class (CWE)
CWE-502 · Deserialization of Untrusted DataCVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
nvd-primary
Root cause
Data received over the network is deserialized into the language’s native object format without verifying its source. Code paths inside the object can be triggered during deserialization.
The bug in code
The whole CWE-502 classA representative example of this vulnerability class. Not the vendor's source code; it shows the faulty pattern and its fix.
Vulnerable
payload = sock.recv(65536)job = pickle.loads(payload)Fixed
payload = sock.recv(65536)if not hmac.compare_digest(sign(payload), header_sig): raise PermissionError("invalid signature")job = JobSchema.validate(json.loads(payload))Attack context
MITRE CAPEC attack patterns and ATT&CK techniques for this weakness class (CWE). A starting point for detection rules and threat hunting.
Attack patterns (CAPEC)
ATT&CK techniques
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Noroxi analysis
No Noroxi analysis for this record yet
We don't hand-write analysis for all 385,000+ vulnerabilities; that wouldn't be honest. For notable, high-impact vulnerabilities our team writes the mechanism, detection and remediation steps.
We use this product, ask for helpChange log
No changes recorded on tracked fields yet. Score, KEV, exploit maturity and fix status changes appear here.
References
Vendor advisories and official records. Exploit/PoC links are deliberately left out.