# CVE-2021-25268: Cross-site scripting in Sophos Firewall

> Cross-site scripting in the web admin interface allows attackers to escalate privileges from MySophos admin to SFOS admin.

- **Severity:** High 8.4 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** An administrator
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 5 May 2022
- **Updated:** 3 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-6gw9-fj88-98q3

## What is CVE-2021-25268?

CVE-2021-25268 is a high-severity cross-site scripting vulnerability in Sophos Firewall, published on 5 May 2022. An attacker needs administrator access to exploit it, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

### Official description

Multiple XSS vulnerabilities in Webadmin allow for privilege escalation from MySophos admin to SFOS admin in Sophos Firewall older than version 19.0 GA.

Weakness: CWE-79 (Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-25268?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Sophos Firewall Firmware.

## How do I fix CVE-2021-25268?

No fix has been published for CVE-2021-25268 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2021-25268 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-25268 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Sophos Firewall

- [CVE-2025-6704](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-6704/): Command injection in Sophos Firewall (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2025-7624](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-7624/): SQL injection in Sophos Firewall (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2024-12727](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-12727/): SQL injection in Sophos Firewall (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2024-12728](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-12728/): Hardcoded credentials in Sophos Firewall (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2025-7382](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-7382/): Command injection in Sophos Firewall (high 8.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2021-25268 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2021-25268 is a high-severity cross-site scripting vulnerability in Sophos Firewall, published on 5 May 2022. An attacker needs administrator access to exploit it, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-25268 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Sophos Firewall. 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-2021-25268/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-25268/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-25268
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-25268
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2021-25268

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-25268/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.