CVE-2009-10005 is a vulnerability in Sophos Web Appliance
Published on August 20, 2025
ContentKeeper Web Appliance < 125.10 Arbitrary File Access via mimencode
ContentKeeper Web Appliance (now maintained by Impero Software) versions prior to 125.10 expose the mimencode binary via a CGI endpoint, allowing unauthenticated attackers to retrieve arbitrary files from the filesystem. By crafting a POST request to /cgi-bin/ck/mimencode with traversal and output parameters, attackers can read sensitive files such as /etc/passwd outside the webroot.
Vulnerability Analysis
CVE-2009-10005 can be exploited with network access, and does not require authorization privileges or user interaction. This vulnerability is considered to have a low attack complexity. An automatable proof of concept (POC) exploit exists. The potential impact of an exploit of this vulnerability is considered to have no impact on confidentiality and integrity and availability.
Weakness Type
Files or Directories Accessible to External Parties
The product makes files or directories accessible to unauthorized actors, even though they should not be. Web servers, FTP servers, and similar servers may store a set of files underneath a "root" directory that is accessible to the server's users. Applications may store sensitive files underneath this root without also using access control to limit which users may request those files, if any. Alternately, an application might package multiple files or directories into an archive file (e.g., ZIP or tar), but the application might not exclude sensitive files that are underneath those directories.
Products Associated with CVE-2009-10005
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Affected Versions
ContentKeeper Technologies Web Appliance:- Before 125.10 is affected.
Exploit Probability
EPSS (Exploit Prediction Scoring System) scores estimate the probability that a vulnerability will be exploited in the wild within the next 30 days. The percentile shows you how this score compares to all other vulnerabilities.