CVE-2010-20103
CRITICALEPSS 92th pctlDescription
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.
How to fix
No published remediation has been found for this vulnerability's affected products yet.
Mitigation guidance may be in the linked vendor advisories in the References section below.
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CVSS v3 Vector
Exploitability
Impact
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Exploit Intelligence
High risk: more likely to be exploited than 92% of all known CVEs.
References
Related Vulnerabilities
Other CWE-912 vulnerabilities, ordered by exploit likelihood. View all
| CVE | Severity | CVSS | EPSS | Exploited | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CVE-2024-20439 | Critical | 9.8 | 92% | KEV | Fix |
| CVE-2025-34117 | Unscored | - | 20% | - | - |
| CVE-2021-24867 | Critical | 9.8 | 19% | - | Fix |
| CVE-2024-6045 | High | 8.8 | 6.3% | - | - |
| CVE-2020-16204 | Critical | 9.8 | 5.5% | - | - |
| CVE-2020-12504 | Critical | 9.8 | 3.0% | - | Fix |
Common questions
How do I fix CVE-2010-20103?
No published fix for CVE-2010-20103 has been found yet. Check the linked vendor advisories for guidance as it becomes available.
Is CVE-2010-20103 being actively exploited?
Not that we know of. CVE-2010-20103 is not in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. Its EPSS score of 5.1% is the estimated probability that it will be exploited in the next 30 days. That is higher than 92% of all scored CVEs.
How severe is CVE-2010-20103?
CVE-2010-20103 has a CVSS v3 base score of 9.8, rated critical. CVSS rates the technical impact if the vulnerability is exploited, not how likely that is, so weigh it alongside the exploit-prediction score when you decide what to patch first.
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This product uses NVD data but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. EPSS scores courtesy of FIRST.org (https://www.first.org/epss). Source: CISA KEV Catalog. Data as of 2026-07-15.