Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:HSummary
CVE-2021-20028 is a critical-severity SQL Injection (CWE-89) vulnerability in Sonicwall Sma 210 Firmware. Its CVSS base score is 9.8 (Critical).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190); ranked in the top 2% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; CISA has added it to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog.
Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary
Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.
The vulnerability is a SQL injection flaw (CWE-89) caused by improper neutralization of SQL commands. It affects end-of-life SonicWall Secure Remote Access (SRA) appliances running all 8.x firmware versions and 9.0.0.9-26sv or earlier. The issue carries a CVSS 3.1 base score of 9.8.
Remote unauthenticated attackers can exploit the flaw over the network without user interaction to read, modify, or delete database contents and potentially achieve full control of the affected appliance, resulting in complete loss of confidentiality, integrity, and availability.
The vulnerability is documented in SonicWall advisory SNWLID-2021-0017 and appears in CISA's catalog of known exploited vulnerabilities, confirming observed in-the-wild exploitation. Because the products have reached end-of-life status, no patches are expected; organizations should migrate away from the affected SRA appliances.
OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2021-7491
Vulnerability Data
Improper neutralization of a SQL Command leading to SQL Injection vulnerability impacting end-of-life Secure Remote Access (SRA) products, specifically the SRA appliances running all 8.x firmware and 9.0.0.9-26sv or earlier
- CWE(s)
- KEV Date Added
- 28 March 2022
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Control response
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V6.2.5
Likely Mitigating Controls AI
Per-CVE control mapping for this CVE has not run yet; the list below is derived from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry.
Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI
Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.
Secure SDLC practices directly target injection flaws during coding and review so largely prevent CWE-89 introduction, yet the single broad outcome leaves residual risk from incomplete neutralization techniques or missed edge cases.
Training raises developer awareness of SQLi risks and can reduce introduction likelihood (partial) but removes none of the actual coding flaw's risk by itself since technical neutralization is still required.
Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI
Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.
The same secure-coding and static-analysis activities surface missing neutralization of SQL metacharacters before the system is accepted.
Early warnings and shared best-practice information help organizations apply the latest remediation techniques against SQL-injection vulnerabilities.
Threat-intelligence feeds that surface new SQL-injection campaigns enable rapid updates to query-construction defenses and detection signatures before exploitation occurs.
Secure-coding rules and security testing phases mandate the use of parameterized queries or equivalent escaping, preventing the construction of dynamic SQL statements from untrusted input.
Language-specific secure coding rules, peer review and SAST together prevent the construction of SQL statements from untrusted data without proper parameterization or escaping.