CVE-2010-20103

CRITICAL EPSS 90.8%
Published Aug 20, 202510mo ago · Modified Jun 16, 20262w ago
9.3 CVSS 4.0
Critical
Find Similar
Published Aug 20, 2025 10mo ago
Last Modified Jun 16, 2026 2w ago

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.

CVSS Details

Base Score
9.3
Exploitability
—
Impact
—
Vector string
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X
Attack Vector Network
Attack Complexity Low
Privileges Required None
User Interaction None
Scope X

Threat Intelligence

EPSS Exploit Probability
90.8% percentile
Exploit & Patch Status
Public Exploit Known
No Patch Available

Weaknesses 1

CWE-912

Affected Products 1

VendorProductVersionRange
proftpdproftpd1.3.3any

References 8

  • proftpd.org http://www.proftpd.org/
    Product
  • advisories.checkpoint.com https://advisories.checkpoint.com/defense/advisories/public/2011/cpai-2010-151.html/
    Third Party Advisory
  • github.com https://github.com/proftpd/proftpd
    Product
  • raw.githubusercontent.com https://raw.githubusercontent.com/rapid7/metasploit-framework/master/modules/exploits/unix/ftp/proftpd_133c_backdoor.rb
    ExploitThird Party Advisory
  • web.archive.org https://web.archive.org/web/20111107212129/http://rsync.proftpd.org/
    Release Notes
  • exploit-db.com https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/15662
    ExploitVDB Entry
  • exploit-db.com https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/16921
    ExploitVDB Entry
  • vulncheck.com https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/proftpd-backdoor-command-execution
    Third Party Advisory

Remediation

No remediation data recorded yet

Check vendor advisories and the NVD entry for patch availability.