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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 9.8 (CRITICAL). Attack characteristics: network attack vector, low complexity, no privileges required, no user interaction not required. Public proof-of-concept exploit code is available.

Exploit ScenarioDerived

A remote attacker could execute arbitrary operating system commands on the host by sending crafted requests to the affected application. No authentication is required to exploit this vulnerability.

Emergency Immediate action required. Why: CRITICAL + in CISA KEV (actively exploited), no patch available.
Exploited in the wild (CISA KEV) No patch listed yet 100.0% exploitation probability (EPSS)

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AnalysisAI

Multiple ZyXEL network-attached storage (NAS) devices running firmware version 5.21 contain a pre-authentication command injection vulnerability, which may allow a remote, unauthenticated attacker to. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.

RemediationAI

No vendor patch is available at time of analysis. Monitor vendor advisories for updates. Avoid passing user input to shell commands. Use language-specific APIs instead of shell execution. Apply strict input validation with allowlists.

Affects your stack

Find out whether the stacks and servers you run are on an affected version.

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. Multiple ZyXEL network-attached storage (NAS) devices running firmware version 5.21 contain a pre-authentication command injection vulnerability, which may allow a remote, unauthenticated attacker to execute arbitrary code on a vulnerable device. ZyXEL NAS devices achieve authentication by using the weblogin.cgi CGI executable. This program fails to properly sanitize the username parameter that is passed to it. If the username parameter contains certain characters, it can allow command injection with the privileges of the web server that runs on the ZyXEL device. Although the web server does not run as the root user, ZyXEL devices include a setuid utility that can be leveraged to run any command with root privileges. As such, it should be assumed that exploitation of this vulnerability can lead to remote code execution with root privileges. By sending a specially-crafted HTTP POST or GET request to a vulnerable ZyXEL device, a remote, unauthenticated attacker may be able to execute arbitrary code on the device. This may happen by directly connecting to a device if it is directly exposed to an attacker. However, there are ways to trigger such crafted requests even if an attacker does not have direct connectivity to a vulnerable devices. For example, simply visiting a website can result in the compromise of any ZyXEL device that is reachable from the client system. Affected products include: NAS326 before firmware V5.21(AAZF.7)C0 NAS520 before firmware V5.21(AASZ.3)C0 NAS540 before firmware V5.21(AATB.4)C0 NAS542 before firmware V5.21(ABAG.4)C0 ZyXEL has made firmware updates available for NAS326, NAS520, NAS540, and NAS542 devices. Affected models that are end-of-support: NSA210, NSA220, NSA220+, NSA221, NSA310, NSA310S, NSA320, NSA320S, NSA325 and NSA325v2 Affected products include: Zyxel Nas326 Firmware, Zyxel Nas520 Firmware, Zyxel Nas540 Firmware, Zyxel Nas542 Firmware, Zyxel Atp100 Firmware. Version information: version 5.21.

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Severity by source

NVD PRIMARY 9.8 CRITICAL
AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Primary rating from NVD · only source for this CVE.

CVSS VectorNVD

Attack Vector
Network
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
None
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

Lifecycle Timeline

2
Added to CISA KEV
Jul 14, 2026 - 04:22 CISA
CVE Published
Mar 04, 2020 - 20:15 nvd
CRITICAL 9.8

DescriptionNVD

Multiple ZyXEL network-attached storage (NAS) devices running firmware version 5.21 contain a pre-authentication command injection vulnerability, which may allow a remote, unauthenticated attacker to execute arbitrary code on a vulnerable device. ZyXEL NAS devices achieve authentication by using the weblogin.cgi CGI executable. This program fails to properly sanitize the username parameter that is passed to it. If the username parameter contains certain characters, it can allow command injection with the privileges of the web server that runs on the ZyXEL device. Although the web server does not run as the root user, ZyXEL devices include a setuid utility that can be leveraged to run any command with root privileges. As such, it should be assumed that exploitation of this vulnerability can lead to remote code execution with root privileges. By sending a specially-crafted HTTP POST or GET request to a vulnerable ZyXEL device, a remote, unauthenticated attacker may be able to execute arbitrary code on the device. This may happen by directly connecting to a device if it is directly exposed to an attacker. However, there are ways to trigger such crafted requests even if an attacker does not have direct connectivity to a vulnerable devices. For example, simply visiting a website can result in the compromise of any ZyXEL device that is reachable from the client system. Affected products include: NAS326 before firmware V5.21(AAZF.7)C0 NAS520 before firmware V5.21(AASZ.3)C0 NAS540 before firmware V5.21(AATB.4)C0 NAS542 before firmware V5.21(ABAG.4)C0 ZyXEL has made firmware updates available for NAS326, NAS520, NAS540, and NAS542 devices. Affected models that are end-of-support: NSA210, NSA220, NSA220+, NSA221, NSA310, NSA310S, NSA320, NSA320S, NSA325 and NSA325v2

Threat Intelligence Overview

Threat Score
8.0/10
Composite threat intelligence
EPSS Score
100.0%
Top 0% exploitable
Exploit
POC
Public exploit code exists
Data Quality
4 sources
Confidence: Medium

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.

SignalValue
Severity CRITICAL
CISA KEV Yes
Public POC Yes
EPSS 100.0%
Patch available No
Active threat Yes
Deciding rule
CRITICAL + in CISA KEV (actively exploited), no patch available
What every action level means
Emergency Immediate action required. Criteria: CRITICAL + in CISA KEV (actively exploited) without patch, OR CRITICAL + EPSS > 30% without patch, OR CRITICAL + active threat signals without patch.
Act Now Prioritize within 24-48h. Criteria: in KEV with patch available, OR CRITICAL + public POC, OR HIGH + EPSS > 10%, OR CRITICAL + active threat, OR any CRITICAL severity.
This Week Schedule remediation this week. Criteria: HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9). Patch within normal change window.
This Month Plan within 30 days. Criteria: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9), lower exploitation probability. Include in regular patch cycle.
Monitor Track and reassess. Criteria: LOW severity (CVSS 0.1-3.9), minimal exploitation risk. No immediate action needed.

SSVC AssessmentENISA

SSVC Decision· derived
Immediate
Exploitation· derived
Active
System Exposure· derived
Open
Automatable· derived
Yes
Human Impact· derived
High

Priority Score

219
Low Medium High Critical
KEV: +50
EPSS: +100
CVSS: +49
PoC: +20
Weaponized: 0
Threat intel: 0
Gov advisory: 0

Attack Technique

OS command injection occurs when an application passes unsanitized user input directly into system shell commands.

Remote Code Execution represents the critical moment when an attacker successfully runs arbitrary code on a target system without physical access.

Affected Products (CPE)NVD

cpe:2.3:o:zyxel:nas326_firmware:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:zyxel:nas520_firmware:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:zyxel:nas540_firmware:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:zyxel:nas542_firmware:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:zyxel:atp100_firmware:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:zyxel:atp200_firmware:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:zyxel:atp500_firmware:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:zyxel:atp800_firmware:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:zyxel:usg20-vpn_firmware:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:zyxel:usg20w-vpn_firmware:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:zyxel:usg40_firmware:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:zyxel:usg40w_firmware:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:zyxel:usg60_firmware:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:zyxel:usg60w_firmware:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:zyxel:usg110_firmware:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:zyxel:usg210_firmware:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:zyxel:usg310_firmware:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:zyxel:usg1100_firmware:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:zyxel:usg1900_firmware:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:o:zyxel:usg2200_firmware:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
+ 7 more

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