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CVE-2023-40044· NVD / CVE Program· CNA ProgressSoftware

WS_FTP Server Ad Hoc Transfer Module .NET Deserialization Vulnerability

In WS_FTP Server versions prior to 8.7.4 and 8.8.2, a pre-authenticated attacker could leverage a .NET deserialization vulnerability in the Ad Hoc Transfer module to execute remote commands on the underlying WS_FTP Server operating system.

HighCVSS 8.8 · v3.1KEVWeaponized Fix available
Published
Sep 27, 2023
Updated
Jun 17, 2026
EPSS
90.4% · 100th percentile
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Report tools

JSON

Action score

92

Now

Patch today or shut off access.

CVSS
35 / 40 · 8.8 / 10
CISA KEV
30 / 30 · Listed
EPSS
27 / 30 · 90.4%

CISA SSVC decision

Exploitation
active
Automatable
yes
Technical impact
total

Vulnrichment: CISA's decision-tree inputs.

CNA vs NVD score

NVD
8.8
CNA · ProgressSoftware
10.0
1.2 point gap

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H

The score given by the assigning authority versus NVD’s independent score. A gap means the severity is contested.

Actively exploited in the wild

CISA added this to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on Oct 5, 2023. That signals real attacks, not theory.

Remediation deadline for government agencies: Oct 26, 2023.

Known to be used in ransomware campaigns.

Noroxi analysis

No Noroxi analysis for this record yet

We don't hand-write analysis for the hundreds of thousands of vulnerabilities in the database; 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 help

Affected systems

VendorProduct
progressws ftp server

Affected versions

NVD version ranges (for catalog products). Add the product to your stack with a version and matching uses these.

  • progress ws ftp serverbefore 8.7.4
  • progress ws ftp server8.8 and later · before 8.8.2

Versions reported by the vendor

Affected version ranges reported by the assigning authority (ProgressSoftware). Independent of NVD's CPE analysis and usually ahead of it.

  • Progress Software Corporation WS_FTP Server

    • 8.8.0 and later · before 8.8.2affected · semver
    • 8.7.0 and later · before 8.7.4affected · semver

Same product

progress: all records

Other highest-scoring records for the same primary product.

  • CVE-2023-42657WS_FTP Server Directory Traversal
    43Plan
  • CVE-2008-0590Buffer overflow in Ipswitch WS_FTP Server with SSH 6.1.0.0 allows remote authenticated users to cause a denial of service (crash) and possib
    43Plan
  • CVE-2001-1021Buffer overflows in WS_FTP 2.02 allow remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via long arguments to (1) DELE, (2) MDTM, (3) MLST, (4) MKD
    43Plan
  • CVE-2023-42659WS_FTP Server Arbitrary File Upload
    35Monitor
  • CVE-2022-27665Reflected XSS (via AngularJS sandbox escape expressions) exists in Progress Ipswitch WS_FTP Server 8.6.0.
    34Monitor
  • CVE-2002-0826Buffer overflow in WS_FTP FTP Server 3.1.1 allows remote authenticated users to execute arbitrary code via a long SITE CPWD command.
    34Monitor

Remediation

Which version to upgrade to

Fix versions compiled from the vendor, package registries and Microsoft. Verify the vendor's note before upgrading.

Product / packageFixed versionSource
Progress Software Corporation WS_FTP Server8.7.4Vendor (CNA)
Progress Software Corporation WS_FTP Server8.8.2Vendor (CNA)

Exploit status

Weaponized

A ready exploit tool or active in-the-wild use is known for this vulnerability. This should be your top priority.

Evidence

  • Metasploit module ×1
  • Nuclei detection template ×1
  • Proof-of-concept repository on GitHub ×1

Noroxi does not host or link to exploit code. Metasploit module names and Nuclei template ids are shown (names, not code); Exploit-DB entries and PoC repositories are given as counts only.

Public exploit evidence
SourceKindDate
Metasploit moduleexploit/windows/http/ws_ftp_rce_cve_2023_40044Progress Software WS_FTP Unauthenticated Remote Code Executionexploit2023-09-27
Nuclei detection templateNuclei template CVE-2023-40044 —
Proof-of-concept repository on GitHubstars:12023-10-02

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.

  1. Metasploitsame day
  2. Published
  3. First PoC+5 d
  4. CISA KEV+8 d
  5. TodayOct 4, 2026+1103 d
EPSS, last 120 days

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 researchers

Finders, reporters and analysts named in the CNA record. Click a name for that researcher’s other records.

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).

National notice (Türkiye Cybersecurity Directorate / USOM)

Official security notices citing this record; remediation advice is on the agency's page.

All national notices →

Technical details

Attack conditions

  • Anyone who can reach it over the internet can trigger it.
  • A low-privileged account is enough.
  • 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
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality impact
High
Integrity impact
High
Availability impact
High

Weakness class (CWE)

CWE-502 · Deserialization of Untrusted Data

CVSS vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/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 class

A representative example of this vulnerability class. Not the vendor's source code; it shows the faulty pattern and its fix.

Vulnerable

python
payload = sock.recv(65536)job = pickle.loads(payload)

Fixed

python
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.

ATT&CK techniques

—

Change log

  1. Fix✗ → ✓

For records you follow, these changes also arrive as notifications. →

References

Vendor advisories and official records. Exploit/PoC links are deliberately left out.

All records