CVE-2010-20103

CRITICALNVD 9.89.8—
EchelonGraph scoreMEDIUM confidence

Score 9.8 from GitHub Security Advisory (severity: CRITICAL) published 2025-08-20. NVD baseline CVSS 9.8; sources differ by 0.0.

Triggered by: GitHub Security Advisory CVSS
Sources: epss, ghsa, nvd
Weaponized
9.8EG
EchelonGraph verdictPatch this weekExploitation is likely or a public exploit exists.
  • Public exploit code is available (Metasploit, ssvc poc, public exploit)
CISA-KEV: Not listedEPSS PROB: 5%CVSS: 9.8Exploit: Metasploit · ssvc poc · public exploitExposed: 0

No vendor fix yet — apply a workaround or compensating control (WAF / firewall / segmentation) and watch for a patch.

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 v3
9.8
EG Score
9.8(medium)
EG Risk
85(Attend)
EG Risk 85/100SSVC: Attend

EG Risk is EchelonGraph's 0–100 priority score: it fuses intrinsic severity with real-world exploitation and automatability so you can rank equal-severity CVEs and fix the most dangerous first. Higher = act sooner. Distinct from the 0–10 EG Score (severity).

How it’s computed
Severity98% × 45%
Exploitation65% × 40%
Automatability100% × 15%
Action: Remediate soon — notable exploitation risk.
EPSS PROB
5%
EPSS %ILE
91%
KEV
Not listed

Published

August 20, 2025

Last Modified

July 15, 2026

Advisory Details (8)

Auto-updated Jul 25, 2026
🔬 Proof of concept available. No patch confirmed yet.
generic🟡 PoC Available

ProFTPd 1.3.3c - Compromised Source Backdoor Remote Code Execution - Linux remote Exploit

https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/15662
generic
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/rapid7/metasploit-framework/master/modules/exploits/unix/ftp/proftpd_133c_backdoor.rb
generic

ProFTPD 1.3.3c Backdoor Command Execution | Advisories | VulnCheck

https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/proftpd-backdoor-command-execution
generic🟡 PoC Available

ProFTPd-1.3.3c - Backdoor Command Execution (Metasploit) - Linux remote Exploit

https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/16921
generic

The ProFTPD Project: Home

https://web.archive.org/web/20111107212129/http://rsync.proftpd.org/
generic

GitHub - proftpd/proftpd: ProFTPD source code · GitHub

https://github.com/proftpd/proftpd
generic

CPAI-2010-151 - Check Point Software

https://advisories.checkpoint.com/defense/advisories/public/2011/cpai-2010-151.html/
generic

The ProFTPD Project: Home

http://www.proftpd.org/

Weakness Classification(1)

MITRE Common Weakness Enumeration — the root-cause categories this CVE belongs to.

Data Freshness Timeline

(refreshed 10× in last 7d / 34× in last 30d)

Each row is a source pipeline that fetched or updated this CVE on that date, with what changed. For example, "NVD update" means NVD published or revised its analysis for this CVE; "MITRE cvelistV5" means we ingested or refreshed it from the CNA feed. Most recent first.

  1. 2026-07-25 14:12 UTCEPSS rescore
  2. 2026-07-23 14:14 UTCEPSS rescore
  3. 2026-07-23 01:01 UTCEG score recompute
  4. 2026-07-23 00:38 UTCEG score recompute
  5. 2026-07-23 00:06 UTCEG score recompute
  6. 2026-07-22 21:45 UTCEG score recompute
  7. 2026-07-22 14:03 UTCEPSS rescore
  8. 2026-07-22 14:03 UTCEPSS rescore
  9. 2026-07-21 15:20 UTCEPSS rescore
  10. 2026-07-20 17:03 UTCEPSS rescore
  11. 2026-07-19 02:25 UTCEPSS rescore
  12. 2026-07-18 10:00 UTCEPSS rescore
  13. 2026-07-16 16:58 UTCEPSS rescore
  14. 2026-07-15 16:54 UTCEPSS rescore
  15. 2026-07-15 16:54 UTCEPSS rescore
  16. 2026-07-15 02:21 UTCNVD updateCVSS v3 → 9.8
  17. 2026-07-15 02:06 UTCMITRE cvelistV5CVSS v3 → 9.3
  18. 2026-07-15 01:55 UTCEPSS rescore
  19. 2026-07-13 22:25 UTCEPSS rescore
  20. 2026-07-13 06:08 UTCEPSS rescore
  21. 2026-07-11 08:22 UTCEPSS rescore
  22. 2026-07-08 15:10 UTCEPSS rescore
  23. 2026-07-08 15:10 UTCEPSS rescore
  24. 2026-07-06 02:19 UTCEPSS rescore
  25. 2026-07-06 02:19 UTCEPSS rescore
Show 48 more
  1. 2026-07-05 02:26 UTCEPSS rescore
  2. 2026-07-02 14:01 UTCEPSS rescore
  3. 2026-07-01 15:02 UTCEPSS rescore
  4. 2026-06-30 23:19 UTCEPSS rescore
  5. 2026-06-29 14:02 UTCEPSS rescore
  6. 2026-06-29 14:02 UTCEPSS rescore
  7. 2026-06-28 14:03 UTCEPSS rescore
  8. 2026-06-28 04:52 UTCEPSS rescore
  9. 2026-06-28 04:52 UTCEPSS rescore
  10. 2026-06-27 03:05 UTCEPSS rescore
  11. 2026-06-25 13:46 UTCEPSS rescore
  12. 2026-06-24 14:02 UTCEPSS rescore
  13. 2026-06-24 14:02 UTCEPSS rescore
  14. 2026-06-23 21:30 UTCEPSS rescore
  15. 2026-06-23 21:29 UTCEPSS rescore
  16. 2026-06-21 14:53 UTCEPSS rescore
  17. 2026-06-21 01:56 UTCEPSS rescore
  18. 2026-06-21 01:56 UTCEPSS rescore
  19. 2026-06-18 17:49 UTCEPSS rescore
  20. 2026-06-18 17:49 UTCEPSS rescore
  21. 2026-06-17 17:49 UTCEPSS rescore
  22. 2026-06-17 17:49 UTCEPSS rescore
  23. 2026-06-16 17:49 UTCEPSS rescore
  24. 2026-06-15 17:44 UTCEPSS rescore
  25. 2026-06-14 23:14 UTCEPSS rescore
  26. 2026-06-13 22:57 UTCEPSS rescore
  27. 2026-06-13 22:57 UTCEPSS rescore
  28. 2026-06-13 22:57 UTCEPSS rescore
  29. 2026-06-12 23:08 UTCEPSS rescore
  30. 2026-06-12 23:08 UTCEPSS rescore
  31. 2026-06-11 13:56 UTCEPSS rescore
  32. 2026-06-10 13:17 UTCEPSS rescore
  33. 2026-06-08 14:13 UTCEPSS rescore
  34. 2026-06-06 13:44 UTCEPSS rescore
  35. 2026-06-06 13:44 UTCEPSS rescore
  36. 2026-06-05 22:44 UTCEPSS rescore
  37. 2026-06-05 22:44 UTCEPSS rescore
  38. 2026-06-05 06:07 UTCEPSS rescore
  39. 2026-06-05 06:07 UTCEPSS rescore
  40. 2026-06-04 13:09 UTCEPSS rescore
  41. 2026-06-04 13:09 UTCEPSS rescore
  42. 2026-05-31 22:28 UTCEPSS rescore
  43. 2026-05-31 22:28 UTCEPSS rescore
  44. 2026-05-31 00:14 UTCEPSS rescore
  45. 2026-05-31 00:13 UTCEPSS rescore
  46. 2026-05-30 00:08 UTCEG score recompute
  47. 2026-05-30 00:08 UTCGHSA enrichment
  48. 2026-05-29 13:40 UTCEPSS rescore

Publicly available exploits

(2 references)

Working exploit code is in the public domain (1 Metasploit module). Defenders should treat patch urgency accordingly — public PoCs typically lead to mass-exploitation within 24-72 hours.

  • Metasploitexploit/unix/ftp/proftpd_133c_backdoor✓ verified
    First seen Dec 2, 2010

    ProFTPD 1.3.3c Backdoor Command Execution

    Open source ↗
  • Nucleijavascript/cves/2010/CVE-2010-20103.yaml
    First seen Jan 1, 2010

    ProFTPd-1.3.3c - Backdoor Command Execution

    Open source ↗

Frequently asked(5)

What is CVE-2010-20103?
CVE-2010-20103 is a critical vulnerability published on August 20, 2025. 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…
When was CVE-2010-20103 disclosed?
CVE-2010-20103 was first published in the National Vulnerability Database on August 20, 2025, with the most recent update on July 15, 2026. EchelonGraph re-ingests CVE updates from NVD on a 2-hour cycle, so this page reflects the latest published state.
Is CVE-2010-20103 actively exploited?
CVE-2010-20103 is not currently on CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. FIRST EPSS estimates a 5% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, which ranks it in the top 8.5% of all scored CVEs.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2010-20103?
CVE-2010-20103 has a CVSS v3 base score of 9.8 (NVD).
How do I remediate CVE-2010-20103?
Patch to the fixed version published by the affected vendor. Where vendor advisories exist for CVE-2010-20103, EchelonGraph cross-links them in the Vendor Advisories panel below — those typically contain the canonical remediation steps, fixed version numbers, and any vendor-specific mitigations.

Dependency Blast Radius

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