Root RCE via Path Traversal in Sophos UTM email proxy
CVE-2026-118633 Published on October 28, 2026

A path traversal vulnerability allows a remote unauthenticated attacker to execute arbitrary code as root in Sophos UTM (all versions) after winning a race condition by sustaining repeated attacks for a few minutes when the email proxy is used with scanning enabled. Sophos UTM is end-of-life and the patch must be installed manually.

NVD

Vulnerability Analysis

CVE-2026-118633 can be exploited with network access, and does not require authorization privileges or user interaction. This vulnerability is consided to have a high level of attack complexity. The potential impact of an exploit of this vulnerability is considered to be very high.

Exploitation:
NONE
Automatable:
NO
Technical Impact:
TOTAL
Attack Vector:
NETWORK
Attack Complexity:
HIGH
Privileges Required:
NONE
User Interaction:
NONE
Scope:
UNCHANGED
Confidentiality Impact:
HIGH
Integrity Impact:
HIGH
Availability Impact:
HIGH

Weakness Type

Path Traversal: '.../...//'

The software uses external input to construct a pathname that should be within a restricted directory, but it does not properly neutralize '.../...//' (doubled triple dot slash) sequences that can resolve to a location that is outside of that directory.


Affected Versions

Sophos SG UTM: