CVE-2018-9866 Command injection in Global Management System (GMS)

Critical 9.8 Published 3 Aug 2018 Updated 5 May 2025

Remote attackers can execute arbitrary code on SonicWall Global Management System appliances due to insufficient validation of XML-RPC parameters.

Exploited in the wild: Not known
Login needed: Not needed
Attackable: Over the internet
Victim action needed: Not needed
Fix: None listed

What is CVE-2018-9866?

CVE-2018-9866 is a critical command injection vulnerability in SonicWall Global Management System (GMS), published on 3 Aug 2018. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

Official description

A vulnerability in lack of validation of user-supplied parameters pass to XML-RPC calls on SonicWall Global Management System (GMS) virtual appliance's, allow remote user to execute arbitrary code. This vulnerability affected GMS version 8.1 and earlier.

Weakness: CWE-20, CWE-77

Which versions are affected by CVE-2018-9866?

It affects 1 product.

Products include Sonicwall Global Management System.

How do I fix CVE-2018-9866?

No fix has been published for CVE-2018-9866 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

Upgrade, and pass arguments to programs as a list instead of through a shell. More about Command injection.

Is CVE-2018-9866 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2018-9866 exists.

Sources

Also known as GHSA-29h3-7qgp-vff3.