Skip to content
Noroxi
CVE-2018-16118· NVD / CVE Program· CNA mitre

A shell escape vulnerability in /webconsole/APIController in the API Configuration component of Sophos XG firewall 17.0.8 MR-8 allows remote

Noroxi assessment

Priority: Monitor (action score 33/100)

  • The sources we track (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, Metasploit, Nuclei, GitHub) show no public exploit code or exploitation in the wild.
  • Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days: 3.7% (FIRST EPSS); higher than 89.5% of all records.
  • Anyone who can reach it over the internet can trigger it. No account or password is required. No user action is required. Special conditions such as timing or configuration are required.
  • According to the record, no fixed version is available yet.

Low priority for now. Update when a fix is released; follow the vendor's advisory.

Generated automatically from the record's data: CVSS (NVD and CNA), CISA KEV and SSVC, FIRST EPSS, exploit sources, fixed versions. How we calculate it

A shell escape vulnerability in /webconsole/APIController in the API Configuration component of Sophos XG firewall 17.0.8 MR-8 allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary OS commands via shell metachracters in the "X-Forwarded-for" HTTP header.

HighCVSS 8.1 · v3.0—No exploit No fix recorded
Published
Jun 20, 2019
Updated
Jun 16, 2026
EPSS
3.7% · 90th percentile

Report tools

JSON

Action score

33

Monitor

Low priority for now.

CVSS
32 / 40 · 8.1 / 10
CISA KEV
0 / 30 · Not listed
EPSS
1 / 30 · 3.7%

Get told when this record changes

  • Not in KEV: no record of exploitation in the wild
  • No public exploit code on record
  • No fixed version yet

If any of these changes, we'll tell you in the daily email digest.

Follow CVE-2018-16118

When you'll hear from us

  • when it enters CISA KEV
  • when exploit code appears or is weaponized
  • when the record is updated (including a fixed version)
  • when EPSS rises 20 points in a week

One daily email digest (06:00 UTC); connect a webhook for KEV listings and weaponized exploits instantly.

Your free account also gets you

Running WordPress? Scan your site free with WP Lens

  • Stack alerts: add the products and versions you run, get the new CVEs that affect them
  • Port scanning: 5 full scans a day (members only)
  • Uptime monitoring: 1 site, instant email when it goes down
  • Verify your domain: subdomains and takeover risk scanned every week
  • 10 scans an hour on the security tools (3 a day without an account), an API key and MCP
All free tools

Sign up with email · Have an account? Sign in

Free account, no card. Unfollow any time.

Don't want an account? Get "Exploited this week" by email every MondayDon't want an account? RSS feed for sophos records

Running WordPress? Scan your site free with WP Lens

Is your version affected? Check it

Noroxi analysis

What does it mean in your environment?

The assessment above is generated automatically from the record's data; it doesn't know your environment. Our team verifies on your systems whether this vulnerability is actually exploitable and which mitigation is enough.

We use this product, ask for help

Affected systems

Is your version affected?

Pick the product and type the version you run. It's compared with this record's version ranges in your browser; the version isn't sent anywhere.

VendorProduct
sophossfos
sophosxg firewall

Affected versions

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

  • sophos sfosup to 16.0 inclusive
  • sophos sfos16.5
  • sophos sfos17.0
  • sophos sfos17.0.8
  • sophos sfos17.1

Same product

sophos: all records

Other highest-scoring records for the same primary product.

  • CVE-2022-1040An authentication bypass vulnerability in the User Portal and Webadmin allows a remote attacker to execute code in Sophos Firewall version vKEV
    99Now
  • CVE-2020-12271A SQL injection issue was found in SFOS 17.0, 17.1, 17.5, and 18.0 before 2020-04-25 on Sophos XG Firewall devices, as exploited in the wildKEV
    82Now
  • CVE-2018-16117A shell escape vulnerability in /webconsole/Controller in Admin Portal of Sophos XG firewall 17.0.8 MR-8 allow remote authenticated attacker
    48Plan
  • CVE-2020-11503A heap-based buffer overflow in the awarrensmtp component of Sophos XG Firewall v17.5 MR11 and older potentially allows an attacker to run a
    39Monitor
  • CVE-2018-16116SQL injection vulnerability in AccountStatus.jsp in Admin Portal of Sophos XG firewall 17.0.8 MR-8 allow remote authenticated attackers to e
    36Monitor
  • CVE-2017-18014An NC-25986 issue was discovered in the Logging subsystem of Sophos XG Firewall with SFOS before 17.0.3 MR3.
    25Monitor

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.

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.

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

The product’s vendor appears in a public program. Matched by name; verify the scope text in the program.

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.
  • Special conditions such as timing or configuration are required.

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
High
Privileges required
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality impact
High
Integrity impact
High
Availability impact
High

Weakness class (CWE)

CWE-78 · Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an OS Command ('OS Command Injection')

CVSS vector

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

nvd-primary

Root cause

User input is inserted as text into a shell command. The shell may interpret special characters in the input as part of the command.

The bug in code

The whole CWE-78 class

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

Vulnerable

ts
const host = req.body.host;exec("ping -c 1 " + host, onResult);

Fixed

ts
const host = req.body.host;if (!/^[a-z0-9.-]{1,253}$/i.test(host)) return res.sendStatus(400);execFile("ping", ["-c", "1", host], onResult);

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

No changes recorded on tracked fields yet. Score, KEV, exploit maturity and fix status changes appear here.

References

Show all references (2 more)

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

All records