CVE-2022-3236
RCE in Sophos Firewall ≤ 19.0.1
Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:HSummary
CVE-2022-3236 is a critical-severity Code Injection (CWE-94) vulnerability in Sophos Firewall. Its CVSS base score is 9.8 (Critical).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Command and Scripting Interpreter (T1059); ranked in the top 0.1% 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.
A code injection vulnerability tracked as CVE-2022-3236 affects the User Portal and Webadmin components of Sophos Firewall in version 19.0 MR1 and earlier. The flaw, assigned CWE-94 and carrying a CVSS v3.1 score of 9.8, permits unauthenticated remote code execution over the network.
An attacker with no credentials or user interaction can send specially crafted requests to the exposed User Portal or Webadmin interfaces, resulting in arbitrary code execution with full system impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability.
Sophos published advisory sophos-sa-20220923-sfos-rce detailing the issue and available updates, while CISA added the CVE to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, confirming active exploitation in the wild.
The associated EPSS score remains elevated at a current value of 0.9284 with a peak of 0.9311, indicating sustained exploitation interest following disclosure.
OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2022-42644
Vulnerability Data
A code injection vulnerability in the User Portal and Webadmin allows a remote attacker to execute code in Sophos Firewall version v19.0 MR1 and older.
- CWE(s)
- KEV Date Added
- 23 September 2022
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Control response
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V1.3.1
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.
Makes persistent code injection into loaded programs impossible when the executable image itself resides on hardware-protected read-only media.
Dynamically generated code can be produced and executed inside the isolated chamber, preventing host compromise from code-injection payloads.
Validates inputs used in dynamic code generation to block injected directives.
Directly prevents execution of attacker-supplied code written into data memory regions.
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.
PR.PS-06's SDLC practices directly target injection flaws via secure coding and testing (mostly), yet as a single broad outcome it leaves many code-generation specifics unaddressed (partial).
PR.DS-10 protects runtime data confidentiality/integrity but has no bearing on neutralizing externally influenced input during code generation, so neither direction shows any preventive effect.
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.
Banning unapproved code samples and unauthenticated web services, combined with secure-coding standards and SAST, prevents the dynamic generation or inclusion of attacker-supplied code.
Controls that restrict unauthorized or malicious code from being introduced via external networks or removable media limit opportunities for an attacker to inject and execute arbitrary code.