CVE-2010-20109: barracuda networks spam & virus firewall Path Traversal

Vulnerability summary

CVE-2010-20109 is a high (CVSS 8.7) Path Traversal vulnerability in barracuda networks spam & virus firewall. EPSS estimates a 1.68% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 76.7% of scored vulnerabilities. 3 public exploits are recorded.

Timeline

1. 21-08-2025
   PublishedVulnerability first disclosed.
2. 26-05-2026
   Last modifiedVulnerability information updated.

Description

Barracuda products, confirmed in Spam & Virus Firewall, SSL VPN, and Web Application Firewall versions prior to October 2010, contain a path traversal vulnerability in the view_help.cgi endpoint. The locale parameter fails to properly sanitize user input, allowing attackers to inject traversal sequences and null-byte terminators to access arbitrary files on the underlying system. By exploiting this flaw, unauthenticated remote attackers can retrieve sensitive configuration files such as /mail/snapshot/config.snapshot, potentially exposing credentials, internal settings, and other critical data.

• CWE-22Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal')The product uses external input to construct a pathname that is intended to identify a file or directory that is located underneath a restricted parent directory, but the product does not properly neutralize special elements within the pathname that can cause the pathname to resolve to a location that is outside of the restricted directory.