CVE-2020-9054

ZyXEL NAS products running firmware version 5.21 and earlier are vulnerable to pre-authentication command injection in weblogin.cgi

CRITICAL
9.8
CVSS Score
Published: March 4, 2020 at 07:30 PM UTC
Updated: October 8, 2026 at 01:38 PM UTC
33 products affected across 1 vendorATP500 FirmwareATP800 FirmwareATP200 Firmware· also runs on 27 platforms

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Severity
CRITICAL9.8
Exploitation
CISA KEV
Exploit prediction
EPSS 100%
SSVC
Active

Actively Exploited

CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) Catalog

EPSS Score100.0%

EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) estimates a 100.0% chance this CVE is exploited in the wild within the next 30 days — higher than 100% of all CVEs. It complements CVSS: a high EPSS on a mid-severity CVE can still be urgent.

Multiple Zyxel network-attached storage (NAS) devices contain a pre-authentication command injection vulnerability, which may allow a remote, unauthenticated attacker to execute arbitrary code.

Required Action
Apply updates per vendor instructions.
Ransomware Use
Unknown
Added to KEV
Mar 25, 2022
Remediation Due
Apr 15, 2022
1658 days overdue

Description

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

Our own answer: ranges merged, affected separated from platform-only, with confidence and review flags.

4.35 ≤ v < 4.35\(abfw.3\)c0*
Affected range stops below 4.35(abfw.3)c0, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement
zyxel-atp200 (same device)
4.35 ≤ v < 4.35\(abfu.3\)c0*
Affected range stops below 4.35(abfu.3)c0, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement
zyxel-atp500 (same device)
4.35 ≤ v < 4.35\(abiq.3\)c0*
Affected range stops below 4.35(abiq.3)c0, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement
zyxel-atp800 (same device)
v < 5.21\(aazf.10\)c0*5.21(AAZF.7)C0
Affected range stops below 5.21(aazf.7)c0, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement
zyxel-nas326 (same device)
v < 5.21\(aasz.3\)c0*5.21(AASZ.3)C0
Affected range stops below 5.21(aasz.3)c0, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement
zyxel-nas520 (same device)
v < 5.21\(aatb.7\)c0*5.21(AATB.4)C0
Affected range stops below 5.21(aatb.4)c0, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement
zyxel-nas540 (same device)
v < 5.21\(abag.7\)c0*5.21(ABAG.4)C0
Affected range stops below 5.21(abag.4)c0, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement
zyxel-nas542 (same device)
4.35 ≤ v < 4.35\(aaph.3\)c0*
Affected range stops below 4.35(aaph.3)c0, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement
zyxel-usg110 (same device)
4.35 ≤ v < 4.35\(aapk.3\)c0*
Affected range stops below 4.35(aapk.3)c0, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement
zyxel-usg1100 (same device)
4.35 ≤ v < 4.35\(aapl.3\)c0*
Affected range stops below 4.35(aapl.3)c0, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement
zyxel-usg1900 (same device)

Runs on — not affected

The affected product only carries this flaw when running on these platforms. The platforms themselves are not vulnerable.

Affected range stops below 4.35(abps.3)c0, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement

Remediation

No guide yet

No remediation guidance has been written for this CVE yet. What the record does show:

References (6)

x_refsource_MISCThird Party Advisory
https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/78.html
x_refsource_MISCThird Party AdvisoryUS Government Resource
https://kb.cert.org/artifacts/cve-2020-9054.html
Third Party Advisoryx_refsource_CERT-VNUS Government Resource
https://kb.cert.org/vuls/id/498544/
US Government Resource
Source: 134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0
https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2020-9054

SSVC — Action Prioritization

SSVCActiveNot automatableTotal impact

SSVC signals action urgency (what to patch first), separate from CVSS which measures severity.

CVSS

9.8CRITICALCISA-ADP
Attack Vector
NETWORK
Complexity
LOW
Privileges
NONE
User Interaction
NONE
Scope
UNCHANGED
Confidentiality
HIGH
Integrity
HIGH
Availability
HIGH
Vector?

Quick Info

StatusANALYZED
CWE
CWE-78

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