VulnerabilityPublished 24 Feb 2026

CVE-2026-0400: SonicWall SonicOS · Use of Externally-Controlled Format String

Affects SonicWall SonicOSSource CVE Database V5

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Not known to be exploited · CVSS 4.9 Medium.

Data as of 29 Oct 2026, 19:04 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

4.9Medium

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

EPSS: 0.4% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 42% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.

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

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: High
User Interaction: None
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: None
Integrity: None
Availability: High

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Network: The vulnerable component is bound to the network stack and the set of possible attackers extends beyond the other options listed, up to and including the entire Internet. Such a vulnerability is often termed 'remotely exploitable' and can be thought of as an attack being exploitable at the protocol level one or more network hops away (e.g., across one or more routers).
Attack Complexity: Low: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
Privileges Required: High: The attacker is authorized with (i.e., requires) privileges that provide significant (e.g., administrative) control over the vulnerable component that could affect component-wide settings and files.
User Interaction: None: The vulnerable system can be exploited without any interaction from any user.
Scope: Unchanged: An exploited vulnerability can only affect resources managed by the same security authority. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are either the same, or both are managed by the same security authority.
Confidentiality: None: There is no loss of confidentiality within the impacted component.
Integrity: None: There is no loss of integrity within the impacted component.
Availability: High: There is total loss of availability, resulting in the attacker being able to fully deny access to resources in the impacted component; this loss is either sustained (while the attacker continues to deliver the attack) or persistent (the condition persists even after the attack has completed). Alternatively, the attacker has the ability to deny some availability, but the loss of availability presents a direct, serious consequence to the impacted component (e.g., the attacker cannot disrupt existing connections, but can prevent new connections; the attacker can repeatedly exploit a vulnerability that, in each instance of a successful attack, leaks a only small amount of memory, but after repeated exploitation causes a service to become completely unavailable).

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 24 Feb 2026
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponized: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 29 Oct 2026.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponized: A Metasploit exploit module or Exploit-DB entry exists (Metasploit scanner modules do not count), or CISA SSVC or the CVSS exploit maturity reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
SonicWallSonicOS	Affected =7.0.1-5169 and older versions =7.3.1-7013 and older versions =8.1.0-8017 and older versions	Fixed in–

AI-suggested

Organizations should immediately inventory SonicWall devices to identify affected SonicOS versions and plan for timely firmware upgrades once patches are released by SonicWall. Until patches are available, restrict administrative access to trusted networks and enforce strong authentication mechanisms such as multi-factor authentication to reduce the risk of credential compromise. Monitor firewall logs for unusual post-authentication activity that could indicate exploitation attempts. Implement network segmentation to limit access to management interfaces and consider deploying intrusion detection/prevention systems to detect anomalous traffic patterns. Regularly review and update firewall configurations to minimize attack surface. Engage with SonicWall support for guidance on interim mitigations or workarounds. Finally, maintain an incident response plan to quickly recover from potential denial-of-service events caused by exploitation of this vulnerability.

Description

A post-authentication Format String vulnerability in SonicOS allows a remote attacker to crash a firewall.

Impact

The primary impact of CVE-2026-0400 is denial of service, where an attacker can crash SonicWall firewalls, causing network disruption and potential downtime. This can affect organizations relying on SonicWall devices for perimeter security, VPN access, and traffic filtering. The loss of firewall availability can expose internal networks to increased risk from other threats during downtime and disrupt business operations, especially for enterprises and service providers with critical uptime requirements. Since exploitation requires authenticated access, the risk is somewhat mitigated by strong access controls, but insider threats or compromised credentials could still lead to exploitation. The vulnerability does not allow data theft or modification, but the availability impact can indirectly affect confidentiality and integrity by disabling security controls. Organizations with large deployments of affected SonicOS versions may face operational challenges and increased incident response costs if exploited.

CWE-134Use of Externally-Controlled Format String (opens in a new tab)
Base weaknessLikelihood of exploit: High
The product uses a function that accepts a format string as an argument, but the format string originates from an external source.
Requirements
Choose a language that is not subject to this flaw.
Implementation
Ensure that all format string functions are passed a static string which cannot be controlled by the user, and that the proper number of arguments are always sent to that function as well. If at all possible, use functions that do not support the %n operator in format strings.
Build and Compilation
Run compilers and linkers with high warning levels, since they may detect incorrect usage.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
XML Security (opens in a new tab)
Mass Assignment (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V5.4.2 (opens in a new tab)
V13.3.1 (opens in a new tab)
V5.1.4 (opens in a new tab)
Attack patterns
Format String Injection (opens in a new tab)
String Format Overflow in syslog() (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

psirt.global.sonicwall.com/vuln-detail/SNWLID-2026-0001 (opens in a new tab)

Community reviews

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 24 Feb 2026, 20:56 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-134

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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