CVE-2023-40044

Progress WS_FTP Server: Deserialization of Untrusted Data

As of , CVE-2023-40044 in Progress WS_FTP Server is on CISA's list of exploited vulnerabilities: CISA listed it on . Our patch-first group: Patch this week.

Exploited
Yes: CISA listed it on 5 October 2023
US federal deadline
26 October 202321 days after CISA listed it. US federal civilian agencies must fix it by then.
Used in ransomware campaigns
Known
EPSS score
0.90Higher than 99% of the CVEs EPSS scores. EPSS estimates the chance of exploitation activity in the next 30 days.
EPSS when listed
0.01 on 5 October 2023EPSS on the day CISA listed it.
Public exploit
1 Metasploit module
Fix
Vendor advice: community.progress.comLinks below, from CISA's entry.

What CISA says to do

Apply mitigations per vendor instructions or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.

CISA's required action

What the flaw is

Progress WS_FTP Server contains a deserialization of untrusted data vulnerability in the Ad Hoc Transfer module that allows an authenticated attacker to execute remote commands on the underlying operating system.

CISA's description

In WS_FTP Server versions prior to 8.7.4 and 8.8.2, a pre-authenticated attacker could leverage a .NET deserialization vulnerability in the Ad Hoc Transfer module to execute remote commands on the underlying WS_FTP Server operating system.

The CVE record's description, from ProgressSoftware

CVE published
27 September 2023
Assigned by
ProgressSoftware
CVSS
10.0 Critical (CVSS 3.1, from the CNA)
CWE-502
Deserialization of Untrusted Data
CISA SSVC, exploitation
active
CISA SSVC, automatable
yes
CISA SSVC, technical impact
total

Timeline

  1. The CVE record was published.
  2. CISA added it to its list of exploited vulnerabilities.
  3. The US federal deadline to fix it.

Public exploits

Facts from Metasploit's module list and Exploit-DB's index; we never copy exploit code.

  • Metasploit: Progress Software WS_FTP Unauthenticated Remote Code Executionexploit module, rank excellent

Read further