dbcve.org
Actively exploited in the wild. This CVE is on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities list — treat remediation as urgent. Federal remediation due by 21 Apr 2022.
SfosOperating system · Sophos

CVE-2022-1040

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-03-25
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 18.5.3 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
In the wild High EPSS Public exploit Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

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 · unedited
An authentication bypass vulnerability in the User Portal and Webadmin allows a remote attacker to execute code in Sophos Firewall version v18.5 MR3 and older.

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 · high confidence

Sophos Firewall versions v18.5 MR3 and older contain an authentication bypass vulnerability in the User Portal and Webadmin interfaces. This allows an unauthenticated remote attacker to bypass authentication controls and execute arbitrary code on the affected firewall device.

MitigationUpgrade Sophos Firewall to a version newer than v18.5 MR3. If immediate patching is not possible, consider restricting access to the User Portal and Webadmin interfaces to trusted IP addresses via firewall rules or disabling these management interfaces from untrusted networks.

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
SfosOperating system
Affected:<= 18.5.3

CVSS 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
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

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

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify if the host is running Sophos Firewall (Sfos)
    Check system information or look for Sophos-specific processes and services. Common commands: 'uname -a', 'ls /etc/sfos/', or check the management interface for Sophos branding.
    Affected if The system is confirmed to be a Sophos Firewall appliance running Sfos software.
  2. Determine the installed Sophos Sfos version
    Access the Webadmin interface and navigate to System > System Overview, or run 'sfos --version' via CLI if available. Compare the version number to the affected range.
    Affected if The installed version is v18.5 MR3 (18.5.3) or any earlier version.
  3. Verify if User Portal interface is enabled and accessible
    Check the firewall configuration for User Portal settings, typically found in Webadmin under 'User Portal' or 'Authentication' settings. Attempt to access the User Portal URL (usually port 443 or 8443) from an external network.
    Affected if User Portal is enabled and reachable from untrusted networks.
  4. Verify if Webadmin interface is enabled and externally accessible
    Check Webadmin configuration in the Sophos console. Confirm whether the management interface is bound to external IPs or WAN interfaces.
    Affected if Webadmin is enabled and bound to externally accessible interfaces (WAN).

A system is affected if it is running Sophos Sfos version 18.5.3 (v18.5 MR3) or older AND has the User Portal or Webadmin interface exposed to untrusted networks.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 18.5.3
Interim mitigation

Upgrade Sophos Firewall to a version newer than v18.5 MR3. If immediate patching is not possible, consider restricting access to the User Portal and Webadmin interfaces to trusted IP addresses via firewall rules or disabling these management interfaces from untrusted networks.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

SFOS 18.5.4 or later (or 19.0+)

  1. 1. Back up the current Sophos Firewall configuration.
  2. 2. Download the latest SFOS firmware version (18.5.4 or later / 19.0+) from support.sophos.com.
  3. 3. Upload the firmware through the Webadmin interface under 'System > Firmware'.
  4. 4. Verify the upgrade completes successfully and confirm the new version in 'System > Status'.
Caveat Standard upgrade risks apply - ensure backup before proceeding

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Sfos Exploited in the wild — priority engagement
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
13.0 hours of engineering $2,330
Get it fixed fast

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,728.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2022-1040 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2022-1040 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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.

What this is

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.

What belongs here
  • 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