CVE-2009-4646 in Secure File Transfer Appliance
Summary
by MITRE
Static code injection vulnerability in the administrative web interface in Accellion Secure File Transfer Appliance allows remote authenticated administrators to inject arbitrary shell commands by appending them to a request to update the SNMP public community string.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 05/01/2026
The Accellion Secure File Transfer Appliance represents a critical infrastructure component designed to facilitate secure file transfers between organizations while maintaining compliance with various regulatory standards including pci dss and hipaa. This appliance serves as a centralized management platform for network monitoring and security operations, with its administrative web interface providing privileged access to system configuration and monitoring parameters. The vulnerability identified as CVE-2009-4646 specifically targets the administrative interface's handling of SNMP public community string updates, creating a pathway for malicious actors to execute arbitrary shell commands on the underlying system. The flaw exists within the input validation mechanisms that process user-supplied data during configuration modifications, particularly when administrators attempt to update the SNMP community string parameter through the web interface. This represents a classic command injection vulnerability where user-controllable input is directly incorporated into system commands without proper sanitization or escaping mechanisms. The vulnerability is classified under CWE-77 as a command injection flaw, which allows attackers to execute operating system commands through improperly validated input fields. The attack vector requires an authenticated administrative account, meaning that an attacker must first compromise administrative credentials through social engineering, credential stuffing, or other exploitation techniques before leveraging this specific vulnerability. This authentication requirement does not mitigate the severity of the vulnerability, as administrative privileges provide extensive system access and control over critical infrastructure components. The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple command execution, as it enables attackers to gain full system compromise including privilege escalation, data exfiltration, and potential lateral movement within the network environment. The SNMP community string parameter serves as a critical network monitoring element that allows external systems to query device information, making this vulnerability particularly dangerous as it could enable attackers to manipulate network monitoring data or escalate their access to other networked systems. According to ATT&CK framework, this vulnerability maps to T1059.001 for command and scripting interpreter and T1566.001 for credential access through credential dumping, as the compromised administrative account provides access to additional system resources and information. The technical implementation flaw occurs when the web interface processes the SNMP community string update request, failing to properly validate or sanitize the input before incorporating it into shell commands used for system configuration updates. This lack of input sanitization creates a direct injection point where attacker-controlled commands can be executed with the privileges of the administrative user. The vulnerability affects versions of the Accellion appliance prior to the security patch released in 2009, highlighting the importance of timely security updates and patch management procedures. Organizations utilizing this appliance must consider the broader implications of this vulnerability within their security posture, particularly regarding privileged account protection and network segmentation. The remediation approach involves implementing proper input validation and sanitization techniques, including parameterized queries and proper escaping of special characters in user-supplied data. Security practitioners should also implement network monitoring to detect suspicious command execution patterns and ensure that administrative access is restricted through multi-factor authentication and least privilege principles. The vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of validating all user inputs in web applications and highlights the potential for authenticated attackers to escalate privileges through command injection flaws in administrative interfaces. This case study reinforces the necessity of following secure coding practices and implementing comprehensive input validation as fundamental security controls. Organizations should conduct regular vulnerability assessments and penetration testing to identify similar injection flaws in their web applications and ensure that all administrative interfaces implement proper security measures to prevent unauthorized command execution. The vulnerability also emphasizes the need for principle of least privilege implementation where administrative functions are restricted to only necessary operations and where input validation is enforced at multiple layers of the application architecture.