SolarWinds Web Help Desk Hardcoded Credential Vulnerability
Noroxi assessment
Priority: Now (action score 94/100)
- CISA has confirmed exploitation in the wild (Oct 15, 2024). Remediation deadline for US federal agencies: Nov 5, 2024.
- A ready-made attack module is public (Metasploit, Nuclei); exploiting it takes no special expertise.
- Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days: 93.2% (FIRST EPSS); higher than 99.8% of all records.
- Anyone who can reach it over the internet can trigger it. No account or password is required. No user action is required. No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.
- According to CISA the attack is automatable: targets can be found by mass scanning.
- According to the record, no fixed version is available yet.
Patch today or shut off access. Until a fix is released, restrict access to the affected component and follow the vendor's advisory.
Generated automatically from the record's data: CVSS (NVD and CNA), CISA KEV and SSVC, FIRST EPSS, exploit sources, fixed versions. How we calculate it
Primary sources: NVD · CVE.org · CISA KEV · FIRST EPSS
The SolarWinds Web Help Desk (WHD) software is affected by a hardcoded credential vulnerability, allowing remote unauthenticated user to access internal functionality and modify data.
- Published
- Aug 21, 2024
- Updated
- Jun 17, 2026
- EPSS
- 93.2% · 99th percentile
- CWE
- CWE-798
Report tools
Action score
94
Now
Patch today or shut off access.
- CVSS
- 36 / 40 · 9.1 / 10
- CISA KEV
- 30 / 30 · Listed
- EPSS
- 28 / 30 · 93.2%
CISA SSVC decision
- Exploitation
- active
- Automatable
- yes
- Technical impact
- total
Vulnrichment: CISA's decision-tree inputs.
CNA vs NVD score
- NVD
- 9.1
- CNA · SolarWinds
- 9.1
- agree
The score given by the assigning authority versus NVD’s independent score. A gap means the severity is contested.
Actively exploited in the wild
CISA added this to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on Oct 15, 2024. That signals real attacks, not theory.
Remediation deadline for US federal agencies: Nov 5, 2024.
Get told when this record changes
- In CISA KEV: exploitation in the wild confirmed
- Weaponized exploit exists
- No fixed version yet
If any of these changes, we'll tell you in the daily email digest.
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Noroxi analysis
What does it mean in your environment?
The assessment above is generated automatically from the record's data; it doesn't know your environment. Our team verifies on your systems whether this vulnerability is actually exploitable and which mitigation is enough.
We use this product, ask for helpAffected systems
Is your version affected?
Pick the product and type the version you run. It's compared with this record's version ranges in your browser; the version isn't sent anywhere.
| Vendor | Product | CPE |
|---|---|---|
| solarwinds | web help desk | cpe:2.3:a:solarwinds:web_help_desk |
Affected versions
NVD version ranges (for catalog products). Add the product to your stack with a version and matching uses these.
- solarwinds web help deskbefore 12.8.3
- solarwinds web help desk12.8.3
Versions reported by the vendor
Affected version ranges reported by the assigning authority (SolarWinds). Independent of NVD's CPE analysis and usually ahead of it.
SolarWinds Web Help Desk
- 12.8.3 Hotfix 1 and previous versionsaffected
Same product
solarwinds: all recordsOther highest-scoring records for the same primary product.
- CVE-2025-26399SolarWinds Web Help Desk Deserialization of Untrusted Data Privilege Escalation VulnerabilityKEV96Now
- CVE-2025-40551SolarWinds Web Help Desk Deserialization of Untrusted Data Remote Code Execution VulnerabilityKEV94Now
- CVE-2024-28986SolarWinds Web Help Desk Java Deserialization Remote Code Execution VulnerabilityKEV94Now
Published before and after this one in the same product
- ← EarlierCVE-2021-35243Dec 23, 2021 · HTTP PUT & DELETE Methods Enabled30Monitor
- ← EarlierCVE-2021-35251Mar 10, 2022 · Sensitive Data Disclosure Vulnerability21Monitor
- Later →CVE-2024-45709Dec 10, 2024 · SolarWinds Web Help Desk Local File Read Vulnerability22Monitor
Remediation
Which version to upgrade to
Fix versions compiled from the vendor, package registries and Microsoft. Verify the vendor's note before upgrading.
No fix version is recorded for this entry. Check the references for vendor advisories.
Exploit status
Weaponized
A ready exploit tool or active in-the-wild use is known for this vulnerability. This should be your top priority.
Evidence
- Metasploit module ×1
- Nuclei detection template ×1
- Proof-of-concept repository on GitHub ×4
Noroxi does not host or link to exploit code. Metasploit module names and Nuclei template ids are shown (names, not code); Exploit-DB entries and PoC repositories are given as counts only.
| Source | Kind | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Nuclei detection template | Nuclei template CVE-2024-28987 | — |
| Proof-of-concept repository on GitHub | stars:12 | 2024-09-05 |
| Proof-of-concept repository on GitHub | stars:8 | 2024-09-24 |
| Proof-of-concept repository on GitHub | stars:1 | 2025-04-21 |
| Proof-of-concept repository on GitHub | stars:1 | 2026-07-28 |
| Metasploit module | auxiliary/gather/solarwinds_webhelpdesk_backdoorSolarWinds Web Help Desk Backdoor (CVE-2024-28987)auxiliary | 2024-08-22 |
Research context
For pentesters and researchers: attack profile, score disagreement, timeline, patch commits, credits, variant and chain candidates, bug bounty scope. All derived from existing data; no exploit code.
Timeline
From publication to today: proof of concept, Metasploit module, CISA KEV and fix record. Dates are as reported by the sources.
- Published
- Metasploitsame day
- First PoC+14 d
- CISA KEV+54 d
- TodayOct 25, 2026+795 d
FIRST EPSS daily score; only changes of 0.01 or more are recorded (step chart).
Patch and commit links
Commit, PR and diff links among the references. A starting point for patch-diffing and variant hunting; fixes, not exploits.
No commit or PR link among the references.
Credits
All researchersFinders, reporters and analysts named in the CNA record. Click a name for that researcher’s other records.
- Zach HanleyHorizon3.aifinder
Variant candidates
Same product, same weakness class, within 18 months. If the patch missed the root cause, the sibling bug is here.
- CVE-2025-40537525 days apartSolarWinds Web Help Desk Hardcoded Credentials Vulnerability30Monitor
Chain candidates
An authentication bypass and a privilege-requiring bug in the same product, published close together: combined they may become an unauthenticated path.
—
Bug bounty scope
The product’s vendor appears in a public program. Matched by name; verify the scope text in the program.
Technical details
Attack conditions
- Anyone who can reach it over the internet can trigger it.
- No account or password is required.
- No user action is required.
- No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.
If successful
- Confidentiality
- high · data can be read
- Integrity
- high · data or configuration can be modified
- Availability
- none
- Attack vector
- Network
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality impact
- High
- Integrity impact
- High
- Availability impact
- None
Weakness class (CWE)
CWE-798 · Use of Hard-coded CredentialsCVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N
nvd-primary
Root cause
For convenience in support or manufacturing, an account that is identical on every device is embedded in the software. Credentials learned from one device work on all of them.
The bug in code
The whole CWE-798 classA representative example of this vulnerability class. Not the vendor's source code; it shows the faulty pattern and its fix.
Vulnerable
const SUPPORT_USER = "support";
const SUPPORT_PASS = "hardcoded-password";Fixed
const creds = await provisioning.deviceCredentials(deviceId);
if (creds.mustRotate) await forcePasswordChange(deviceId);Attack context
MITRE CAPEC attack patterns and ATT&CK techniques for this weakness class (CWE). A starting point for detection rules and threat hunting.
Change log
No changes recorded on tracked fields yet. Score, KEV, exploit maturity and fix status changes appear here.
References
Show all references (3 more)Show less
Vendor advisories and official records. Exploit/PoC links are deliberately left out.