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Xg Firewall FirmwareOperating system · Sophos

CVE-2022-3709

HIGH · 8.4 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-12-01
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 19.0 or later.
See remediation →
88/100
Remediation priority · High
Remotely reachable

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
A stored XSS vulnerability allows admin to super-admin privilege escalation in the Webadmin import group wizard of Sophos Firewall releases older than version 19.5 GA.

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

A stored cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in the Webadmin import group wizard of Sophos Firewall allows an authenticated administrator to escalate privileges to super-admin by injecting malicious scripts that execute in the context of higher-privileged sessions.

MitigationUpgrade Sophos Firewall to version 19.5 GA or later to remediate the stored XSS vulnerability in the import group wizard.

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
Xg Firewall FirmwareOperating system
Affected:<= 19.0

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
High
User interaction
Required
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:R/S:C/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 the Sophos XG Firewall device
    Access the firewall's Webadmin interface or check the device management console to confirm you are using Sophos XG Firewall hardware or virtual appliance.
    Affected if The device is not a Sophos XG Firewall product.
  2. Determine the installed firmware version
    Log into the Webadmin interface and navigate to System > Administration > Firmware or use the CLI command 'version' to display the current firmware version.
    Affected if The firmware version is 19.0 or earlier (any version <= 19.0).
  3. Confirm Webadmin interface accessibility
    Verify that the Webadmin web interface is enabled and accessible on the firewall. Check under System > Administration > Web Administration > Webadmin settings.
    Affected if Webadmin is disabled or not accessible - the vulnerability cannot be exploited.
  4. Verify import group wizard functionality exists
    Log into Webadmin as an administrator and navigate to the group management section to confirm the 'Import Group' wizard feature is present in the interface.
    Affected if The import group wizard feature does not exist or is not accessible in the current installation.
  5. Confirm administrator account access
    Verify that at least one administrator account exists with access to the Webadmin interface and group management features.
    Affected if No authenticated administrator with group management access exists - the attack requires this privilege level.

You are affected if the device is a Sophos XG Firewall running firmware version 19.0 or earlier with the Webadmin interface enabled and the import group wizard feature accessible to authenticated administrators.

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 19.0
Interim mitigation

Upgrade Sophos Firewall to version 19.5 GA or later to remediate the stored XSS vulnerability in the import group wizard.

Recommended fix High confidence

Sophos XG Firewall firmware version 19.5 GA or later

  1. 1. Log in to the Sophos XG Firewall admin interface
  2. 2. Navigate to System > Firmware or System > Backup & Firmware to check the current firmware version
  3. 3. Download the fixed firmware version 19.5 GA or later from the Sophos download portal (requires valid support license)
  4. 4. In the firmware management section, select the option to upload and install the new firmware
  5. 5. Follow the on-screen prompts to apply the firmware update - this may require a reboot
  6. 6. After the firewall restarts, log back in and verify the firmware has been updated to version 19.5 or higher
  7. 7. Navigate to the Webadmin import group wizard to confirm the vulnerability has been remediated
Caveat Firmware upgrades may cause temporary connectivity interruption; ensure you have a maintenance window and backup configuration before upgrading

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

Fix this in Xg Firewall Firmware Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation3.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
8.0 hours of engineering $1,420
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,272.

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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-2022-3709 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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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