CriticalCISA KEVExploited in the wildPublic exploit

SQL Injection in SonicWall Secure Remote Access (SRA)

IdentifiersCVE-2021-20028CWE-89· Improper Neutralization of Special…

CVE-2021-20028 is an improper neutralization of SQL commands (SQL injection) vulnerability affecting SonicWall Secure Remote Access (SRA) appliances. The provided content states it impacts end-of-life SRA products running all 8.x firmware and 9.0.0.9-26sv or earlier. Successful exploitation allows attacker-supplied input to be interpreted as part of a backend SQL query rather than as data, enabling unauthorized database interaction on vulnerable internet-exposed SRA appliances.

For your environment

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ANALYST BRIEF

Impact, mitigation & remediation

What it means. What to do now. Patch path, mitigations, and the assume-compromise checklist.

Impact

What an attacker gets, and what they’ve been doing with it.

The vulnerability can enable unauthorized manipulation of backend SQL queries on affected SonicWall SRA appliances. In practice, this can provide a high-severity remote compromise path against exposed VPN infrastructure and has been associated in the provided context with real-world exploit development, CISA KEV listing, and documented ransomware use. Compromise of an SRA appliance can facilitate unauthorized access to sensitive appliance data and may provide an initial access vector into the victim environment.

Mitigation

If you can’t patch tonight, do this now.

Where immediate replacement is not yet complete, reduce exposure by removing affected SRA appliances from internet exposure where possible, restricting access to trusted source IP ranges, enforcing MFA for remote access, monitoring for exploitation attempts and anomalous access, and planning urgent migration off unsupported SRA platforms. However, the content explicitly states no vendor patches are available, so mitigation is only risk reduction, not a complete fix.

Remediation

Patch, then assume compromise.

The provided content indicates the affected SonicWall SRA products are end-of-life and that no patches are available for CVE-2021-20028. The recommended remediation is to decommission and replace affected end-of-life SRA appliances with supported products/firmware that are not vulnerable.

PUBLIC EXPLOITS

Exploits

No public exploits tracked yet. Mallory keeps watching.

VALID 0 / 0 TOTALView more in app

No public exploit code observed for this vulnerability.

EXPOSURE SURFACE

Affected products & vendors

Products and vendors Mallory has correlated with this vulnerability. Open in Mallory to drill down to specific CPE configurations and version ranges.

VendorProductType

SonicwallSma 210 Firmwareoperating_system

SonicwallSma 410 Firmwareoperating_system

SonicwallSma 500v Firmwareoperating_system

SonicwallSra 1600 Firmwareoperating_system

SonicwallSra 4600 Firmwareoperating_system

SonicwallSra Va Firmwareoperating_system

Vendor-confirmed product mapping. Mallory continuously reconciles this list against your asset inventory.

ACTIVITY FEED

Recent activity

5 sources tracked across advisories, community write-ups, and news. New activity surfaces here as Mallory finds it.

5 SOURCESView more in app

cyber security newsNews

Mar 2, 2026

Hackers Attacking SonicWall Firewalls from 4,000+ unique IP Addresses to Exploit Vulnerabilities

A vulnerability affecting SonicWall SRA appliances; the content states affected appliances are end-of-life and have no available patches, making decommissioning necessary.

greynoise blogNews

Feb 27, 2026

Active Reconnaissance Campaign Targets SonicWall Firewalls Through Commercial Proxy Infrastructure

A critical SonicWall vulnerability (CVSS 9.8) listed in CISA KEV. The content indicates limited triggering during the campaign and explicitly warns that end-of-life SonicWall SRA appliances affected by this CVE have no patches available, recommending decommissioning/disconnection.

krebs on securityNews

Feb 14, 2022

Wazawaka Goes Waka Waka - Krebs on Security

A recently patched vulnerability affecting SonicWall VPN appliances for which working exploit code was publicly released, making it significant for intrusion and ransomware-related operations.

ic3 alertsNews

Mar 18, 2026

Known vulnerability in SonicWall Secure Remote Access (SRA) referenced as part of the actor’s CVE research.

What this page doesn’t show

The version that knows your environment.

This page is what’s public. Mallory adds the parts that aren’t: which of your assets are affected, which adversaries are exploiting it right now, which detections to deploy, and what to do tonight.

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Exposure mapping

Query your assets running an affected version, and investigate the blast radius.

Threat actor evidence

Every observed campaign linking this CVE to a named adversary.

Associated malware2

Malware families riding this exploit, with evidence and IOCs.

Detection signatures2

YARA, Sigma, Snort, and vendor rules, auto-deployed to your SIEM.

Vendor-by-vendor mapping

Cross-references every affected SKU, including bundled OEM variants.

Social activity

Community discussion across Reddit, Mastodon, and other social sources.

EXTERNAL REFERENCES

MITRE CVE

cve.org · CVE-2021-20028

NVD

nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-20028

MITRE CWE · CWE-89

Improper Neutralization of Special Elements…

Vendor Advisory

psirt.global.sonicwall.com/vuln-detail/SNWLID-2021-0017

US Government Resource

cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2021-20028