CVE-2021-20025
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 · uneditedSonicWall Email Security Virtual Appliance version 10.0.9 and earlier versions contain a default username and a password that is used at initial setup. An attacker could exploit this transitional/temporary user account from the trusted domain to access the Virtual Appliance remotely only when the device is freshly installed and not connected to Mysonicwall.
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 confidenceSonicWall Email Security Virtual Appliance versions 10.0.9 and earlier contain a hardcoded default username and password for a transitional/temporary account created during initial setup. This account remains exploitable from the trusted network when the appliance is freshly installed and not connected to the Mysonicwall management service, allowing remote unauthorized access.
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<= 10.0.9CVSS 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
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
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.
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Check installed versionAccess the appliance admin interface or use the command line interface to retrieve the current installed version of SonicWall Email Security Virtual ApplianceAffected if The installed version is 10.0.9 or earlier (any version <= 10.0.9)
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Verify Mysonicwall connection statusIn the appliance admin panel, navigate to the management or registration settings and check if the appliance is connected to and registered with the Mysonicwall cloud serviceAffected if The appliance is NOT connected to Mysonicwall (this is a required condition for the vulnerability)
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Identify transitional/temporary accountReview user accounts in the appliance administration panel under User Management or Accounts settings; look for any secondary accounts created during initial setup that may be transitional or temporary in natureAffected if A transitional or temporary account with default credentials exists and remains enabled
You are affected if your installed version is 10.0.9 or earlier AND the appliance is not connected to Mysonicwall AND the hardcoded default transitional account still exists and is enabled.
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 dataImmediately connect the appliance to Mysonicwall and change or disable the default transitional account credentials; ensure the appliance is properly registered and configured before production use.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation1.0 h
- Testing1.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-20025 — 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-2021-20025 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
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- 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