Otrs
CVE-2017-16921
HIGH
Vulnerability Assessment
| Weakness |
CWE
OWASP Top 10:2025
A05:2025 - Injection
ASVS 5.0
V1 - Encoding and Sanitization OS command sanitization, avoid shell exec
MITRE ATT&CK
2 techniques across 1 tactic: Execution The technique list with ATT&CK links and the kill-chain view is part of the Basic plan and up. |
| Impact | CVSS score of 8.8 (HIGH). Attack characteristics: network attack vector, low complexity, low privileges required, no user interaction not required. Public proof-of-concept exploit code is available. EPSS exploitation probability: 33.87%. |
| Exploit ScenarioDerived | A remote attacker could execute arbitrary operating system commands on the host by sending crafted requests to the affected application. |
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Alert meAnalysisAI
In OTRS 6.0.x up to and including 6.0.1, OTRS 5.0.x up to and including 5.0.24, and OTRS 4.0.x up to and including 4.0.26, an attacker who is logged into OTRS as an agent can manipulate form. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and EPSS exploitation probability 33.9%.
RemediationAI
A vendor patch is available. Apply the latest security update as soon as possible. Avoid passing user input to shell commands. Use language-specific APIs instead of shell execution. Apply strict input validation with allowlists.
Affects your stack
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Checking this CVE against your own stacks and servers is part of the Basic plan and up.
Technical ContextAI · show details
This vulnerability is classified as OS Command Injection (CWE-78), which allows attackers to execute arbitrary operating system commands on the host. In OTRS 6.0.x up to and including 6.0.1, OTRS 5.0.x up to and including 5.0.24, and OTRS 4.0.x up to and including 4.0.26, an attacker who is logged into OTRS as an agent can manipulate form parameters (related to PGP) and execute arbitrary shell commands with the permissions of the OTRS or web server user. Affected products include: Otrs, Debian Debian Linux.
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- Exploit and PoC references, threat intelligence from 22 sources
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Severity by source
AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Primary rating from NVD · only source for this CVE.
CVSS VectorNVD
DescriptionCVE.org
In OTRS 6.0.x up to and including 6.0.1, OTRS 5.0.x up to and including 5.0.24, and OTRS 4.0.x up to and including 4.0.26, an attacker who is logged into OTRS as an agent can manipulate form parameters (related to PGP) and execute arbitrary shell commands with the permissions of the OTRS or web server user.
Threat Intelligence Overview
How this decision was reached
The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.
What every action level means
SSVC AssessmentENISA
Priority Score
Attack Technique
OS command injection occurs when an application passes unsanitized user input directly into system shell commands.
Affected Products (CPE)CVE.org
In the Admin Package Manager in Open Ticket Request System (OTRS) 5.0.0 through 5.0.24 and 6.0.0 through 6.0.1, authenti
Multiple cross-site request forgery (CSRF) vulnerabilities in (1) CustomerPreferences.pm, (2) CustomerTicketMessage.pm,
Open Ticket Request System (OTRS) 3.3.9 has XSS in index.pl?Action=AgentStats requests, as demonstrated by OrderBy=[XSS]
Improper Input Validation vulnerability in the upload functionality for user avatars allows functionality misuse due to
Improper Input Validation vulnerability in OTRS AG OTRS, OTRS AG ((OTRS)) Community Edition allows SQL Injection via Tic
Multiple SQL injection vulnerabilities in the FAQ package 2.x before 2.3.6, 4.x before 4.0.5, and 5.x before 5.0.5 in Op
Authentication bypass in ((OTRS)) Community Edition 6.x and earlier lets an unauthenticated remote attacker impersonate
Cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in Open Ticket Request System (OTRS) Help Desk 2.4.x before 2.4.15, 3.0.x befor
OTRS fails to immediately invalidate previously issued JWT authentication tokens when an agent or customer user account
Unauthenticated SQL injection in OTRS and the legacy ((OTRS)) Community Edition database layer enables authentication by
The functions to fetch e-mail via POP3 or IMAP as well as sending e-mail via SMTP use OpenSSL for static SSL or TLS base
In Open Ticket Request System (OTRS) 3.3.x through 3.3.16, 4.x through 4.0.23, and 5.x through 5.0.19, an attacker with
NVD
CVE.org
EPSS
Exploit-DB
GitHub PoC