Is CVE-2016-9554 actively exploited?

A proof-of-concept exploit is publicly available for CVE-2016-9554, but active exploitation has not been confirmed.

Can CVE-2016-9554 be exploited remotely?

Yes. CVE-2016-9554 is exploitable remotely over the network (CVSS attack vector: Network).

What is the CVSS score of CVE-2016-9554?

CVE-2016-9554 has a CVSS score of 7.2 (HIGH).

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HIGHPOC

CVE-2016-9554

CWE-77Published: January 28, 2017· Updated: Jun 17, 2026

7.2

CVSS v3.1

Official Description

The Sophos Web Appliance Remote / Secure Web Gateway server (version 4.2.1.3) is vulnerable to a Remote Command Injection vulnerability in its web administrative interface. These vulnerabilities occur in MgrDiagnosticTools.php (/controllers/MgrDiagnosticTools.php), in the component responsible for performing diagnostic tests with the UNIX wget utility. The application doesn't properly escape the information passed in the 'url' variable before calling the executeCommand class function ($this->dtObj->executeCommand). This function calls exec() with unsanitized user input allowing for remote command injection. The page that contains the vulnerabilities, /controllers/MgrDiagnosticTools.php, is accessed by a built-in command answered by the administrative interface. The command that calls to that vulnerable page (passed in the 'section' parameter) is: 'configuration'. Exploitation of this vulnerability yields shell access to the remote machine under the 'spiderman' user account.

NVD Source

Technical Analysis

CVE-2016-9554 can be exploited remotely over the network without requiring physical or adjacent access, significantly expanding the attack surface for threat actors.

Exploitation requires high privileges, which limits the exposure to scenarios where an attacker has already gained initial access.

A successful exploit results in complete confidentiality breach (data exposure), full integrity compromise (data manipulation), availability disruption (denial of service), with a CVSS base score of 7.2.

A proof-of-concept (PoC) exploit exists for CVE-2016-9554. While not yet confirmed in active campaigns, the availability of PoC code increases exploitation risk substantially.