In WS_FTP Server versions prior to 8.7.4 and 8.8.2, a pre-authenticated attacker could leverage a .NET deserialization vulnerability in the Ad Hoc Transfer module to execute remote commands on the underlying WS_FTP Server operating system.
CVE-2023-40044
Score elevated to 10.0 because this CVE is listed on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog (added 2023-10-05), indicating real-world exploitation has been confirmed by US federal agencies. NVD baseline CVSS 10.0 retained for reference. Confidence: HIGH.
- Actively exploited in the wild (CISA-KEV)
No vendor fix yet — apply a workaround or compensating control (WAF / firewall / segmentation) and watch for a patch.
- CVSS v3
- 10.0
- EG Score
- 10.0(high)
- EG Risk
- 100(Act)EG Risk 100/100SSVC: Act
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 computedSeverity100% × 45%Exploitation100% × 40%Automatability100% × 15%Action: Fix now — active exploitation, automatable, high impact. - EPSS PROB
- 90%
- EPSS %ILE
- 100%
- KEV
- ⚠ Exploited
Published
September 27, 2023
Last Modified
October 31, 2025
Advisory Details (6)
Auto-updated Sep 5, 2026CVE-2023-40044: Deserialization of Untrusted Data | Rapid7 Vulnerability Database
https://attackerkb.com/topics/bn32f9sNax/cve-2023-40044Packet Storm Security
http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/174917/Progress-Software-WS_FTP-Unauthenticated-Remote-Code-Execution.htmlMass exploitation attempts against WS_FTP have begun
https://www.theregister.com/2023/10/02/ws_ftp_update/RCE in Progress WS_FTP Ad Hoc via IIS HTTP Modules (CVE-2023-40044)
https://www.assetnote.io/resources/research/rce-in-progress-ws-ftp-ad-hoc-via-iis-http-modules-cve-2023-40044Progress Customer Community
https://community.progress.com/s/article/WS-FTP-Server-Critical-Vulnerability-September-2023Weakness Classification(1)
MITRE Common Weakness Enumeration — the root-cause categories this CVE belongs to.
Data Freshness Timeline
(refreshed 50× in last 7d / 220× 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.
Showing the most recent 100 of 708 total refreshes for this CVE.
- 2026-09-08 12:40 UTCGHSA enrichment
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- 2026-09-05 18:52 UTCEG score recompute
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- 2026-09-05 07:16 UTCGHSA enrichment
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- 2026-09-04 17:38 UTCCISA KEV update
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- 2026-09-02 17:33 UTCCISA KEV update
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- 2026-08-31 14:19 UTCCISA KEV update
- 2026-08-31 11:13 UTCGHSA enrichment
- 2026-08-31 07:21 UTCGHSA enrichment
- 2026-08-31 03:28 UTCGHSA enrichment
- 2026-08-30 23:37 UTCGHSA enrichment
- 2026-08-30 19:45 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-08-30 19:45 UTCGHSA enrichment
- 2026-08-30 19:15 UTCEPSS rescore
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- 2026-08-29 12:47 UTCGHSA enrichment
- 2026-08-29 08:51 UTCGHSA enrichment
- 2026-08-29 04:57 UTCGHSA enrichment
- 2026-08-29 01:04 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-08-29 01:03 UTCGHSA enrichment
- 2026-08-28 21:39 UTCEPSS rescore
- 2026-08-28 21:11 UTCGHSA enrichment
- 2026-08-28 17:18 UTCGHSA enrichment
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- 2026-08-28 09:30 UTCGHSA enrichment
- 2026-08-28 05:37 UTCGHSA enrichment
- 2026-08-28 01:44 UTCGHSA enrichment
- 2026-08-27 21:53 UTCGHSA enrichment
- 2026-08-27 18:01 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-08-27 18:01 UTCGHSA enrichment
- 2026-08-27 17:22 UTCCISA KEV update
- 2026-08-27 14:23 UTCEPSS rescore
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- 2026-08-26 17:41 UTCCISA KEV update
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- 2026-08-26 11:05 UTCGHSA enrichment
- 2026-08-26 07:12 UTCGHSA enrichment
- 2026-08-26 03:20 UTCGHSA enrichment
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/windows/http/ws_ftp_rce_cve_2023_40044✓ verifiedFirst seen Sep 27, 2023
Progress Software WS_FTP Unauthenticated Remote Code Execution
Open source ↗ - Nucleihttp/cves/2023/CVE-2023-40044.yamlFirst seen Jan 1, 2023
WS_FTP Server - Insecure Deserialization
Open source ↗
Related CVEs(same CWE)
Same CWE
10 shownCWE-502
- CVE-2017-10992EG 9.8EPSS p95CRITICAL
- CVE-2013-4521EG 9.8EPSS p90CRITICAL
- CVE-2014-1860EG 9.8CRITICAL
- CVE-2016-1000027EG 9.8EPSS p98CRITICAL
- CVE-2014-3699EG 9.8CRITICAL
- CVE-2017-10934EG 9.8CRITICAL
- CVE-2016-9498EG 9.8EPSS p97CRITICAL
- CVE-2016-9483EG 9.8CRITICAL
- CVE-2015-2020EG 9.8CRITICAL
- CVE-2017-15692EG 9.8EPSS p91CRITICAL
Frequently asked(6)
What is CVE-2023-40044?
When was CVE-2023-40044 disclosed?
Is CVE-2023-40044 actively exploited?
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2023-40044?
Which products are affected by CVE-2023-40044?
How do I remediate CVE-2023-40044?
Dependency Blast Radius
Explore the affected products and dependency analysis for CVE-2023-40044
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