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CVE-2010-20103

CRITICAL

9.8

Description

A malicious backdoor was embedded in the official ProFTPD 1.3.3c source tarball distributed between November 28 and December 2, 2010. The backdoor implements a hidden FTP command trigger that, when invoked, causes the server to execute arbitrary shell commands with root privileges. This allows remote, unauthenticated attackers to run any OS command on the FTP server host.

CVE Details

CVSS v3.1 Score9.8

SeverityCRITICAL

CVSS VectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Attack VectorNETWORK

ComplexityLOW

Privileges RequiredNONE

User InteractionNONE

Published8/20/2025

Last Modified9/24/2025

Sourcenvd

Honeypot Sightings0

Affected Products

proftpd:proftpd

Weaknesses (CWE)

CWE-912

References

http://www.proftpd.org/(disclosure@vulncheck.com)

https://advisories.checkpoint.com/defense/advisories/public/2011/cpai-2010-151.html/(disclosure@vulncheck.com)

https://github.com/proftpd/proftpd(disclosure@vulncheck.com)

https://raw.githubusercontent.com/rapid7/metasploit-framework/master/modules/exploits/unix/ftp/proftpd_133c_backdoor.rb(disclosure@vulncheck.com)

https://web.archive.org/web/20111107212129/http://rsync.proftpd.org/(disclosure@vulncheck.com)

https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/15662(disclosure@vulncheck.com)

https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/16921(disclosure@vulncheck.com)

https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/proftpd-backdoor-command-execution(disclosure@vulncheck.com)

https://raw.githubusercontent.com/rapid7/metasploit-framework/master/modules/exploits/unix/ftp/proftpd_133c_backdoor.rb(134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0)

https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/15662(134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0)

https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/16921(134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0)

IOC Correlations

No correlations recorded

This product uses data from the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD.