CVE-2023-40044

CRITICALNVD 10.010.0
EchelonGraph scoreHIGH confidence

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.

Triggered by: CISA KEV (actively exploited)
Sources: cisa_kev, epss, ghsa, nvd
Trending — 4 sources updated this weekExploited in the wild
10.0EG
EchelonGraph verdictPatch nowTreat as an emergency — this is being exploited.
  • Actively exploited in the wild (CISA-KEV)
CISA-KEV: ExploitedEPSS PROB: 90%CVSS: 10.0Exploit: cisa kev · ssvc active · kev ransomware · Metasploit · epss top5pct · epss high · public exploitExposed: 0

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

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.

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 computed
Severity100% × 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, 2026
⚠️ Active exploitation confirmed. No patch confirmed yet.
generic🔴 Active Exploitation

CVE-2023-40044: Deserialization of Untrusted Data | Rapid7 Vulnerability Database

https://attackerkb.com/topics/bn32f9sNax/cve-2023-40044
generic🟡 PoC Available

Mass exploitation attempts against WS_FTP have begun

https://www.theregister.com/2023/10/02/ws_ftp_update/
generic

WS_FTP - Secure FTP Server and Client Software

https://www.progress.com/ws_ftp
generic

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-2023-40044

Weakness 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.

  1. 2026-09-08 12:40 UTCGHSA enrichment
  2. 2026-09-08 08:45 UTCGHSA enrichment
  3. 2026-09-08 04:54 UTCGHSA enrichment
  4. 2026-09-08 01:02 UTCGHSA enrichment
  5. 2026-09-07 21:11 UTCGHSA enrichment
  6. 2026-09-07 17:17 UTCGHSA enrichment
  7. 2026-09-07 13:25 UTCGHSA enrichment
  8. 2026-09-07 09:31 UTCGHSA enrichment
  9. 2026-09-07 05:40 UTCGHSA enrichment
  10. 2026-09-07 01:47 UTCGHSA enrichment
  11. 2026-09-06 21:52 UTCGHSA enrichment
  12. 2026-09-06 18:01 UTCGHSA enrichment
  13. 2026-09-06 14:09 UTCEG score recompute
  14. 2026-09-06 14:09 UTCGHSA enrichment
  15. 2026-09-06 13:45 UTCEPSS rescore
  16. 2026-09-06 13:45 UTCEPSS rescore
  17. 2026-09-06 10:17 UTCGHSA enrichment
  18. 2026-09-06 06:26 UTCGHSA enrichment
  19. 2026-09-06 02:35 UTCGHSA enrichment
  20. 2026-09-05 22:44 UTCGHSA enrichment
  21. 2026-09-05 18:52 UTCEG score recompute
  22. 2026-09-05 18:52 UTCGHSA enrichment
  23. 2026-09-05 15:26 UTCEPSS rescore
  24. 2026-09-05 15:01 UTCGHSA enrichment
  25. 2026-09-05 11:07 UTCGHSA enrichment
Show 75 more
  1. 2026-09-05 07:16 UTCGHSA enrichment
  2. 2026-09-05 03:25 UTCGHSA enrichment
  3. 2026-09-04 23:33 UTCGHSA enrichment
  4. 2026-09-04 19:41 UTCGHSA enrichment
  5. 2026-09-04 17:38 UTCCISA KEV update
  6. 2026-09-04 15:50 UTCGHSA enrichment
  7. 2026-09-04 11:58 UTCGHSA enrichment
  8. 2026-09-04 08:07 UTCGHSA enrichment
  9. 2026-09-04 04:16 UTCGHSA enrichment
  10. 2026-09-04 00:24 UTCGHSA enrichment
  11. 2026-09-03 20:32 UTCGHSA enrichment
  12. 2026-09-03 16:41 UTCGHSA enrichment
  13. 2026-09-03 12:49 UTCGHSA enrichment
  14. 2026-09-03 08:56 UTCGHSA enrichment
  15. 2026-09-03 05:03 UTCGHSA enrichment
  16. 2026-09-03 01:11 UTCGHSA enrichment
  17. 2026-09-02 21:20 UTCGHSA enrichment
  18. 2026-09-02 17:33 UTCCISA KEV update
  19. 2026-09-02 17:28 UTCGHSA enrichment
  20. 2026-09-02 13:34 UTCGHSA enrichment
  21. 2026-09-02 09:42 UTCGHSA enrichment
  22. 2026-09-02 05:50 UTCGHSA enrichment
  23. 2026-09-02 01:56 UTCGHSA enrichment
  24. 2026-09-01 22:04 UTCGHSA enrichment
  25. 2026-09-01 18:13 UTCGHSA enrichment
  26. 2026-09-01 14:22 UTCGHSA enrichment
  27. 2026-09-01 10:29 UTCGHSA enrichment
  28. 2026-09-01 06:35 UTCGHSA enrichment
  29. 2026-09-01 02:42 UTCGHSA enrichment
  30. 2026-08-31 22:50 UTCGHSA enrichment
  31. 2026-08-31 18:58 UTCGHSA enrichment
  32. 2026-08-31 15:06 UTCGHSA enrichment
  33. 2026-08-31 14:19 UTCCISA KEV update
  34. 2026-08-31 11:13 UTCGHSA enrichment
  35. 2026-08-31 07:21 UTCGHSA enrichment
  36. 2026-08-31 03:28 UTCGHSA enrichment
  37. 2026-08-30 23:37 UTCGHSA enrichment
  38. 2026-08-30 19:45 UTCEG score recompute
  39. 2026-08-30 19:45 UTCGHSA enrichment
  40. 2026-08-30 19:15 UTCEPSS rescore
  41. 2026-08-30 15:53 UTCGHSA enrichment
  42. 2026-08-30 12:01 UTCGHSA enrichment
  43. 2026-08-30 08:10 UTCGHSA enrichment
  44. 2026-08-30 04:18 UTCGHSA enrichment
  45. 2026-08-30 00:27 UTCGHSA enrichment
  46. 2026-08-29 20:35 UTCGHSA enrichment
  47. 2026-08-29 16:42 UTCGHSA enrichment
  48. 2026-08-29 12:47 UTCGHSA enrichment
  49. 2026-08-29 08:51 UTCGHSA enrichment
  50. 2026-08-29 04:57 UTCGHSA enrichment
  51. 2026-08-29 01:04 UTCEG score recompute
  52. 2026-08-29 01:03 UTCGHSA enrichment
  53. 2026-08-28 21:39 UTCEPSS rescore
  54. 2026-08-28 21:11 UTCGHSA enrichment
  55. 2026-08-28 17:18 UTCGHSA enrichment
  56. 2026-08-28 13:23 UTCGHSA enrichment
  57. 2026-08-28 09:30 UTCGHSA enrichment
  58. 2026-08-28 05:37 UTCGHSA enrichment
  59. 2026-08-28 01:44 UTCGHSA enrichment
  60. 2026-08-27 21:53 UTCGHSA enrichment
  61. 2026-08-27 18:01 UTCEG score recompute
  62. 2026-08-27 18:01 UTCGHSA enrichment
  63. 2026-08-27 17:22 UTCCISA KEV update
  64. 2026-08-27 14:23 UTCEPSS rescore
  65. 2026-08-27 14:10 UTCGHSA enrichment
  66. 2026-08-27 10:18 UTCGHSA enrichment
  67. 2026-08-27 06:27 UTCGHSA enrichment
  68. 2026-08-27 02:33 UTCGHSA enrichment
  69. 2026-08-26 22:41 UTCGHSA enrichment
  70. 2026-08-26 18:49 UTCGHSA enrichment
  71. 2026-08-26 17:41 UTCCISA KEV update
  72. 2026-08-26 14:57 UTCGHSA enrichment
  73. 2026-08-26 11:05 UTCGHSA enrichment
  74. 2026-08-26 07:12 UTCGHSA enrichment
  75. 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✓ verified
    First seen Sep 27, 2023

    Progress Software WS_FTP Unauthenticated Remote Code Execution

    Open source ↗
  • Nucleihttp/cves/2023/CVE-2023-40044.yaml
    First seen Jan 1, 2023

    WS_FTP Server - Insecure Deserialization

    Open source ↗

Frequently asked(6)

What is CVE-2023-40044?
CVE-2023-40044 is a critical vulnerability published on September 27, 2023. In WSFTP 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 WSFTP Server operating system.
When was CVE-2023-40044 disclosed?
CVE-2023-40044 was first published in the National Vulnerability Database on September 27, 2023, with the most recent update on October 31, 2025. EchelonGraph re-ingests CVE updates from NVD on a 2-hour cycle, so this page reflects the latest published state.
Is CVE-2023-40044 actively exploited?
Yes. CISA added CVE-2023-40044 to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on October 5, 2023, affecting Progress WS_FTP Server. KEV listing indicates confirmed exploitation in the wild; this CVE warrants immediate patching attention.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2023-40044?
CVE-2023-40044 has a CVSS v3 base score of 10.0 (NVD).
Which products are affected by CVE-2023-40044?
CVE-2023-40044 affects Progress WS_FTP Server. The full affected-products list, including version ranges and fixed versions, is shown in the Affected Packages section of this page.
How do I remediate CVE-2023-40044?
Patch to the fixed version published by the affected vendor. Where vendor advisories exist for CVE-2023-40044, 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

Explore the affected products and dependency analysis for CVE-2023-40044

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