CVE-2020-5141
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedA vulnerability in SonicOS allows a remote unauthenticated attacker to brute force Virtual Assist ticket ID in the firewall SSLVPN service. This vulnerability affected SonicOS Gen 5 version 5.9.1.7, 5.9.1.13, Gen 6 version 6.5.4.7, 6.5.1.12, 6.0.5.3, SonicOSv 6.5.4.v and Gen 7 version SonicOS 7.0.0.0.
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · moderate confidenceA vulnerability in SonicOS allows remote unauthenticated attackers to brute force Virtual Assist ticket IDs in the SSLVPN service. The ticket ID enumeration could enable unauthorized access to the VPN, as the attacker can systematically guess valid ticket identifiers without authentication.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE data<= 5.9.1.13>= 6.0.0.0, <= 6.0.5.3>= 6.5.0.0, <= 6.5.1.11>= 6.5.4.0, <= 6.5.4.7= 7.0.0.0<= 6.5.4.4CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- Low
- Integrity
- Low
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
-
Identify the SonicOS versionAccess the Sonicwall management interface or use the command line interface (CLI) to retrieve the firmware version. In the GUI, this is typically found under System > Status. In CLI, use 'show version' or similar command.Affected if The installed version falls within any of these ranges: Sonicos <= 5.9.1.13; Sonicos >= 6.0.0.0 and <= 6.0.5.3; Sonicos >= 6.5.0.0 and <= 6.5.1.11; Sonicos >= 6.5.4.0 and <= 6.5.4.7; Sonicos = 7.0.0.0; Sonicosv <= 6.5.4.4
-
Determine if Virtual Assist is enabledCheck the Sonicwall configuration settings for Virtual Assist. This is typically found under VPN > Virtual Assist or similar VPN settings in the management interface. Verify whether the Virtual Assist feature is turned on.Affected if Virtual Assist is currently enabled on the device (the vulnerability only affects systems with this feature active)
-
Verify SSLVPN service statusConfirm that the SSLVPN service is configured and running on the Sonicwall device. This can be checked in the VPN or SSL-VPN settings section of the management interface.Affected if SSLVPN is configured and accessible (the attack vector relies on the SSLVPN service being available)
-
Review access logs for unusual ticket ID patternsExamine the Sonicwall logs, particularly VPN and firewall logs, for repeated or systematic requests to Virtual Assist ticket URLs that might indicate enumeration or brute force activity.Affected if Logs show multiple failed or repeated access attempts to Virtual Assist ticket identifiers from external IP addresses
You are affected if your Sonicwall device runs a SonicOS version within the affected ranges AND has Virtual Assist enabled and SSLVPN accessible, regardless of whether you observe exploitation attempts.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
From vendor dataUpdate SonicOS to patched versions not listed in the advisory. If patching is not immediately feasible, consider disabling Virtual Assist if not required, and implement network-level rate limiting or intrusion detection to identify brute force patterns.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,648.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-5141 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2020-5141 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.
A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.
- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data