# CVE-2019-7479: Privilege escalation in SonicOS

> Authenticated read-only admins can elevate permissions to configuration mode on SonicWall firewalls, allowing unauthorized administrative control.

- **Severity:** High 7.2 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** An administrator
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 31 Dec 2019
- **Updated:** 4 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-cvjc-gjqm-w2cq

## What is CVE-2019-7479?

CVE-2019-7479 is a high-severity vulnerability in Sonicwall Sonicos, published on 31 Dec 2019. An attacker needs administrator access to exploit it, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

A vulnerability in SonicOS allow authenticated read-only admin can elevate permissions to configuration mode. This vulnerability affected SonicOS Gen 5 version 5.9.1.12-4o and earlier, Gen 6 version 6.2.7.4-32n, 6.5.1.4-4n, 6.5.2.3-4n, 6.5.3.3-3n, 6.2.7.10-3n, 6.4.1.0-3n, 6.5.3.3-3n, 6.5.1.9-4n and SonicOSv 6.5.0.2-8v_RC363 (VMWARE), 6.5.0.2.8v_RC367 (AZURE), SonicOSv 6.5.0.2.8v_RC368 (AWS), SonicOSv 6.5.0.2.8v_RC366 (HYPER_V).

Weakness: CWE-269 (Improper Privilege Management), CWE-285 (Improper Authorization)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2019-7479?

It affects 2 products.


Products: Sonicwall Sonicos, Sonicwall Sonicosv.

## How do I fix CVE-2019-7479?

No fix has been published for CVE-2019-7479 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2019-7479 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2019-7479 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Sonicwall Sonicos

- [CVE-2020-5135](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-5135/): SonicWall SonicOS Buffer Overflow (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2024-40766](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-40766/): SonicWall SonicOS Improper Access Control (critical 9.3, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2024-53704](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-53704/): SonicWall SonicOS SSLVPN Improper Authentication (high 8.2, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2025-40600](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-40600/): Denial of service in SonicOS (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2024-22394](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-22394/): Auth bypass in SonicOS (critical 9.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2019-7479 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2019-7479 is a high-severity vulnerability in Sonicwall Sonicos, published on 31 Dec 2019. An attacker needs administrator access to exploit it, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2019-7479 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Sonicwall Sonicos. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-7479/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-7479/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2019-7479
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2019-7479
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2019-7479

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-7479/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.