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Critical · 9.3 Scanner template Public exploit CVE-2010-20103 EUVD-2010-5301GHSA-xm7r-423x-5463

ProFTPD 1.3.3c Backdoor Command Execution

Published Aug 20, 2025 · Updated Jul 15, 2026 · Assigned by VulnCheck

Vendor: ProFTPD Project Product: ProFTPD (Professional FTP Daemon)

Description

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.

Affected products

VendorProductAffectedFixed
ProFTPD Project ProFTPD (Professional FTP Daemon) 1.3.3c —

Public exploits

Exploit or proof-of-concept code for this vulnerability is publicly available, which lowers the bar for attackers. Treat it as a reason to patch sooner.

Third-party code, not reviewed by us. Public PoCs are sometimes fake or contain malware. Read the code first and run it only in an isolated lab, against systems you are authorised to test.

Metasploit 1 module

Sources: PoC-in-GitHub, Metasploit Framework, Exploit-DB — updated daily. Only links are listed; no exploit code is hosted here.

Automated scanner template

A ready-made Nuclei template detects this vulnerability automatically. Vulnerabilities with public scanner templates are typically probed across the internet soon after the template appears — exposed systems should be patched first.

Source: projectdiscovery/nuclei-templates (MIT) — updated daily. Only links are listed.

Advisories 1

References