Overview
SonicWall Email Security contains an improper privilege management vulnerability that allows an attacker to create an administrative account by sending a crafted HTTP request to the remote host. This vulnerability has known usage in a SonicWall Email Security exploit chain along with CVE-2021-20022 and CVE-2021-20023 to achieve privilege escalation.
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-20021
Key Details
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| CVE ID | CVE-2021-20021 |
| Vendor / Product | SonicWall — SonicWall Email Security |
| NVD Published | 2021-04-09 |
| NVD Last Modified | 2025-11-10 |
| CVSS 3.1 Score | 9.8 |
| CVSS 3.1 Vector | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H |
| Severity | CRITICAL |
| CWE | CWE-269 |
| CISA KEV Added | 2021-11-03 |
| CISA KEV Deadline | 2021-11-17 |
| Known Ransomware Use | ⚠️ Yes |
CVSS 3.1 Breakdown
Attack Vector
Network
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
None
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High
Required Action
CISA BOD 22-01 Deadline: 2021-11-17.
Apply updates per vendor instructions.
Timeline
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 2021-11-03 | Added to CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog |
| 2021-11-17 | CISA BOD 22-01 remediation deadline |
References
| Resource | Type |
|---|---|
| NVD — CVE-2021-20021 | Vulnerability Database |
| CISA KEV Catalog Entry | US Government |