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Movable Type CVE-2021-20837

CRITICAL
OS Command Injection (CWE-78)
2021-10-26 vultures@jpcert.or.jp
9.8
CVSS 3.1 · NVD
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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.

Act Now Prioritize within 24-48h. Why: CRITICAL + EPSS > 30%, no patch available.
No patch listed yet 88.1% exploitation probability (EPSS)

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AnalysisAI

Movable Type 7 r.5002 and earlier (Movable Type 7 Series), Movable Type 6.8.2 and earlier (Movable Type 6 Series), Movable Type Advanced 7 r.5002 and earlier (Movable Type Advanced 7 Series), Movable. 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. Movable Type 7 r.5002 and earlier (Movable Type 7 Series), Movable Type 6.8.2 and earlier (Movable Type 6 Series), Movable Type Advanced 7 r.5002 and earlier (Movable Type Advanced 7 Series), Movable Type Advanced 6.8.2 and earlier (Movable Type Advanced 6 Series), Movable Type Premium 1.46 and earlier, and Movable Type Premium Advanced 1.46 and earlier allow remote attackers to execute arbitrary OS commands via unspecified vectors. Note that all versions of Movable Type 4.0 or later including unsupported (End-of-Life, EOL) versions are also affected by this vulnerability. Affected products include: Sixapart Movable Type.

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  • Exploit and PoC references, threat intelligence from 22 sources

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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

DescriptionNVD

Movable Type 7 r.5002 and earlier (Movable Type 7 Series), Movable Type 6.8.2 and earlier (Movable Type 6 Series), Movable Type Advanced 7 r.5002 and earlier (Movable Type Advanced 7 Series), Movable Type Advanced 6.8.2 and earlier (Movable Type Advanced 6 Series), Movable Type Premium 1.46 and earlier, and Movable Type Premium Advanced 1.46 and earlier allow remote attackers to execute arbitrary OS commands via unspecified vectors. Note that all versions of Movable Type 4.0 or later including unsupported (End-of-Life, EOL) versions are also affected by this vulnerability.

Threat Intelligence Overview

EPSS Score
88.1%
Top 0% exploitable
Exploit
POC
Public exploit code exists
Data Quality
2 sources
Confidence: Low

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 No
Public POC Yes
EPSS 88.1%
Patch available No
Active threat Yes
Deciding rule
CRITICAL + EPSS > 30%, 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
Scheduled
Exploitation· derived
Poc
System Exposure· derived
Open
Automatable· derived
Yes
Human Impact· derived
Medium

Priority Score

157
Low Medium High Critical
KEV: 0
EPSS: +88
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.

Affected Products (CPE)NVD

cpe:2.3:a:sixapart:movable_type:*:*:*:*:premium:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:sixapart:movable_type:*:*:*:*:premium_advanced:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:sixapart:movable_type:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:sixapart:movable_type:*:*:*:*:-:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:sixapart:movable_type:*:*:*:*:advanced:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:sixapart:movable_type:*:*:*:*:-:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:sixapart:movable_type:*:*:*:*:advanced:*:*:*
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