CVE-2026-111560 in Application Delivery Controller
Summary
by MITRE • 11/02/2026
Improper neutralization of shell metacharacters in the timezone configuration field in certain Barracuda appliance products using common Barracuda code allows an authenticated administrator to inject OS commands that execute with root privileges when the crafted timezone value is subsequently processed.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 11/02/2026
The vulnerability identified as Improper Neutralization of Shell Metacharacters represents a critical security flaw within specific Barracuda appliance products, stemming from insufficient input validation in the timezone configuration module. This issue arises because the underlying codebase fails to adequately sanitize or escape special characters that hold significance for operating system shell interpreters before passing user-supplied data to system-level commands. When an authenticated administrator interacts with the management interface to modify time zone settings, the application accepts the provided value and directly incorporates it into a command string executed by the operating system without proper filtering of metacharacters such as semicolons, pipes, or ampersands. This lack of neutralization allows for the injection of arbitrary shell commands that are subsequently processed by the host environment.
From an operational perspective, this flaw enables Remote Code Execution with elevated privileges due to the context in which the vulnerable code executes. Because the administrative interface typically runs with high-level permissions and often invokes system utilities as root or a similarly privileged user, any command injected through the timezone field will inherit these same rights. An attacker who has obtained valid administrator credentials can exploit this mechanism to execute arbitrary operating system commands on the underlying infrastructure. This capability effectively bypasses standard access controls since the exploitation relies on legitimate administrative actions rather than unauthorized network access, making detection and prevention more challenging for security monitoring systems that do not deeply inspect command-line arguments generated by internal applications.
The technical classification of this vulnerability aligns with CWE-78, which defines Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an OS Command, commonly known as OS Command Injection. The attack vector is classified under the MITRE ATT&CK framework technique T1059, specifically subtechnique T1059.004 for Command and Scripting Interpreter abuse. This categorization highlights that the primary risk involves the manipulation of system-level processes through injected syntax rather than traditional buffer overflows or logic errors in application state management. The severity is further compounded by the fact that it requires authentication, which may lead organizations to underestimate its potential impact if they assume internal network boundaries provide sufficient protection against insider threats or compromised administrative accounts.
Mitigation strategies must focus on both immediate remediation and long-term architectural improvements. Administrators should apply vendor-provided patches immediately to update the affected Barracuda appliance firmware versions where this flaw has been addressed through enhanced input validation routines. In environments where patching is delayed, strict access control policies should be enforced to limit who holds administrative privileges, thereby reducing the attack surface for credential theft or misuse. Furthermore, implementing network segmentation can isolate management interfaces from general user traffic and external networks, ensuring that even if credentials are compromised, lateral movement remains restricted. Long-term development practices must prioritize secure coding standards that mandate parameterized command execution or strict allow-listing of acceptable input values rather than relying on blacklist-based filtering for special characters in system calls.