CriticalCVE-2024-28986

    SolarWinds Web Help Desk Java Deserialization Remote Code Execution Vulnerability (CVE-2024-28986)

    Published In CISA KEV since Sources: CERT-EU, pwn.watch, CVE.org

    What is affected, what to do

    SolarWinds Web Help Desk was found to be susceptible to a Java Deserialization Remote Code Execution vulnerability that, if exploited, would allow an attacker to run commands on the host machine. While it was reported as an unauthenticated vulnerability, SolarWinds has been unable to reproduce it without authentication after thorough testing.

    The vulnerability is being actively exploited; treat it as a priority. The available sources name no fixed version. Check the vendor guidance in the references below. Immediate actions, mitigation and detection rules are in the runbook below.

    Affected
    • SolarWinds Web Help Desk lte previous versions..12.8.3

    Not sure whether and how you are affected? Ask a question about this vulnerability

    Metrics

    9.8

    Priority

    XIEM Effective CVSS: highest available CVSS rating from NVD and vendor data.

    Source: NVD, CVSS v3

    9.8

    CVSS v3

    Severity Critical on the scale from 0 to 10.

    Source: CERT-EU, pwn.watch, CVE.org

    84.6 %

    EPSS score

    High — model estimates ≥ 50% chance of real-world exploitation within 30 days.

    Source: FIRST EPSS, percentile 99.71

    Show all metrics
    Severity
    Critical
    Priority (0–325)

    The priority score is a consolidated metric that condenses several individual signals into a single, action-guiding ranking: technical severity (CVSS), exploitation likelihood (EPSS), known-exploited status (KEV) and the context of the affected asset. The aim is to answer the only truly important question in vulnerability management: what first?

    Read in glossary
    234.54 Methodology
    Exploit maturity

    An exploit is code or a technique that specifically uses a concrete vulnerability to force unintended behaviour — such as executing code or escalating privileges. It is the tool that turns a theoretical flaw into a practical attack.

    Read in glossary
    actively exploited
    XIEM Effective CVSS

    XIEM® is the tiered managed-security operating model from NEOSEC and a registered trademark of NEOSEC GmbH. It extends classic SIEM — the central collection, normalisation and correlation of security-relevant events — with endpoint forensics, network visibility and deception technology, and consolidates them into three building tiers: Sentry, Orchestrate and Command.

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    9.8 Methodology
    CVSS v3

    CVSS is the globally established, open standard for assessing the technical severity of a vulnerability on a scale from 0 to 10. It describes how easily a flaw can be exploited and what damage it can cause — but not how likely its actual exploitation is. CVSS and the complementary EPSS deliberately answer different questions.

    Read in glossary
    9.8
    EPSS score

    The EPSS score is the absolute model output for an individual vulnerability: the estimated probability of real-world exploitation within the next 30 days, expressed as a value between 0 and 1 (i.e. 0 % to 100 %). A score of 0.42 means „the model estimates a 42 % chance of real-world exploitation within 30 days“.

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    84.6 %
    High — model estimates ≥ 50% chance of real-world exploitation within 30 days.
    EPSS percentile

    The EPSS percentile is the relative position of a vulnerability within all EPSS-scored CVEs, expressed as a value between 0 and 1. A percentile of 0.90 means „this CVE has a higher EPSS score than 90 % of all other scored CVEs“. Unlike the EPSS score, it is not a probability — but a positioning within a ranking.

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    99.71
    Critical — this CVE ranks in the top fifth of all CVEs scored today (rank ≥ 80%).
    KEV status

    The KEV catalogue is a list maintained by the US authority CISA of vulnerabilities for which active exploitation in the wild has been confirmed. It answers not the question „how severe?“ but „is it already being attacked?“ — thereby sharply prioritising patching.

    Read in glossary
    Actively exploited
    Published
    In CISA KEV since

    The KEV catalogue is a list maintained by the US authority CISA of vulnerabilities for which active exploitation in the wild has been confirmed. It answers not the question „how severe?“ but „is it already being attacked?“ — thereby sharply prioritising patching.

    Read in glossary
    CWE

    CWE is a catalogue of typical weakness types in software and hardware — such as flawed input validation, unsafe memory handling or poor authentication. Where a CVE names a concrete vulnerability in a concrete product, a CWE describes the underlying class of defect.

    Read in glossary
    CWE-502

    Response and mitigation

    Why act now?

    Prioritisation rationale

    This flaw gives host-level code execution over the network, with low attack complexity and no user interaction. The vector scores it as unauthenticated, although the vendor could only reproduce it with credentials. Exploitation likelihood sits among the very highest of all CVEs, and CISA added it to KEV within days of disclosure. No ransomware use is recorded. WHD servers are attractive targets because they are often internet-facing and store AD, mail and asset credentials — an ideal foothold for lateral movement. Treat internet-exposed instances as critical with a 24-hour patch deadline. Treat internal-only instances as high priority within a few days, and run the compromise assessment in either case.

    1. Runbook step 1

      Immediate response (0-24 h)

      • Inventory: Identify every SolarWinds Web Help Desk (WHD) instance, including test and legacy boxes. Check the version under "Setup → About". All versions up to and including 12.8.3 are affected.
      • Patch: Apply the hotfix for 12.8.3. The patch is available from the vendor — look up the exact hotfix name in the SolarWinds advisory. Older installs must be upgraded to 12.8.3 first, as the hotfix builds on it. Verify the hotfix files and version string after installation.
      • Remove internet exposure: Put any internet-facing WHD instance behind VPN or a pre-authenticating reverse proxy immediately, or take it offline temporarily. Common default ports are 8081/HTTP and 8443/HTTPS — confirm the actual ports in your deployment.
      • Rotate credentials: The vendor indicates exploitation requires authentication. Reset all WHD admin and tech accounts, plus stored service credentials: LDAP/AD bind account, SMTP/IMAP mailboxes, database login, and Orion or asset-discovery integration credentials.
      • Compromise assessment: Run a compromise assessment on the WHD host before and after patching (see Detection rules). On any hit, isolate the host and preserve evidence: memory image, Tomcat/WHD logs, filesystem timeline.

    2. Runbook step 2

      Mitigation layers

      • Network segmentation: Restrict the WHD web interface to defined client and admin networks. Apply default-deny egress from the WHD host, allowing only required destinations (mail server, DCs, database). This kills reverse shells and second-stage downloads.
      • WAF/IPS: Block or alert on requests to /helpdesk/WebObjects/Helpdesk.woa/ carrying serialized Java objects. Indicators include the magic bytes AC ED 00 05 (raw) or rO0AB (Base64) in the body or parameters, and known gadget class names (org.apache.commons.collections, ysoserial, TemplatesImpl). Enable vendor Suricata/Snort signatures for CVE-2024-28986 where available.
      • Endpoint hardening: Run the WHD service under a dedicated low-privilege service account, not LocalSystem/root. Use EDR or AppLocker/WDAC rules to stop the WHD Java process from spawning shell interpreters (cmd.exe, powershell.exe, /bin/sh, bash).
      • IAM/least privilege: Minimise the number of tech and admin accounts and disable local WHD accounts without MFA. Scope the AD bind account to read-only.
      • Configuration: Disable unused integrations and public customer portals. Check whether other WHD advisories published around the same time enable authentication bypass and would make this bug easier to exploit — see the vendor advisory for details.

    3. Runbook step 3

      Detection rules

      • EDR/Sysmon EID 1 or Windows 4688 — process ancestry: A Java process from the WHD install path spawns a shell interpreter. Sigma shape: ParentImage|contains: 'WebHelpDesk' AND ParentImage|endswith: 'java.exe' AND Image|endswith: ('\cmd.exe','\powershell.exe','\rundll32.exe','\certutil.exe'). On Linux, use an equivalent auditd execve rule keyed on the WHD Java PID as ppid.
      • Web/Tomcat access logs: Unusual POSTs to Helpdesk.woa with oversized bodies, Content-Type: application/x-java-serialized-object, or rO0AB in parameters. SPL: index=web host=whd* uri="*Helpdesk.woa*" (form_data="*rO0AB*" OR content_type="*java-serialized*").
      • Sysmon EID 11 / FIM: New .jsp, .class or .jar files in WHD webapp directories (webshells) outside documented patch windows.
      • Network (Zeek/Suricata, Sysmon EID 3): Outbound connections from the WHD host to unknown external IPs, especially right after Helpdesk.woa requests. DNS lookups to OAST domains (*.oast.*, *.interact.sh, *.burpcollaborator.net) indicate exploit probing.
      • Application logs: Newly created or elevated WHD admin accounts and logins from unusual source IPs. Review any Java deserialization stack traces (ObjectInputStream, ClassNotFoundException naming gadget classes) found in WHD logs.

    Detection rules

    No NEOSEC detection rule is available for this vulnerability yet.

    Classification under NIS2 and CRA

    Rule-based classification from exploitation status and severity. It does not replace a case-by-case assessment.

    NIS2

    NIS2 is EU Directive (EU) 2022/2555 to raise the level of cybersecurity across the Union. It substantially broadens obligations compared with the first NIS directive: more sectors, mandatory risk management, staged reporting duties and personal accountability of senior management.

    Read in glossary
    Actively exploited: treat the vulnerability as a priority in vulnerability handling under Art. 21(2)(e) NIS2. If it is exploited in your environment, check the reporting obligation under Art. 23 (early warning within 24 hours).
    CRA

    The CRA is EU Regulation (EU) 2024/2847 setting horizontal cybersecurity requirements for „products with digital elements“ — from industrial controllers and software to connected consumer devices. For the first time manufacturers must ensure security across the entire product lifecycle, handle vulnerabilities and provide security updates.

    Read in glossary
    Since 11.09.2026, manufacturers of affected products with digital elements must report actively exploited vulnerabilities under Art. 14 CRA, with an early warning within 24 hours via ENISA's single reporting platform.
    ISO/IEC 27001

    ISO/IEC 27001 is the internationally leading standard for an information security management system (ISMS). It describes a risk-based, process-oriented framework to systematically plan, implement, review and improve information security.

    Read in glossary
    Control A.8.8, management of technical vulnerabilities: assess relevance to your systems, plan remediation and keep evidence.

    Description

    SolarWinds Web Help Desk was found to be susceptible to a Java Deserialization Remote Code Execution vulnerability that, if exploited, would allow an attacker to run commands on the host machine. While it was reported as an unauthenticated vulnerability, SolarWinds has been unable to reproduce it without authentication after thorough testing.   However, out of an abundance of caution, we recommend all Web Help Desk customers apply the patch, which is now available.

    Source: certeu_advisory, pwn.watch, NVD (NIST), cvelistv5, CISA KEV Catalog, CVE.org (MITRE)

    Affected products

    The following versions are affected. Older releases of the same product line are also vulnerable unless stated otherwise.

    Affected products
    Affected versionsFixed in
    SolarWindsWeb Help Desk
    • previous versions – ≤ 12.8.3
    • —
    solarwindsweb_help_desk
    • 12.8.3
    • ≤ 12.8.2
    • —
    • —

    Vendors and products

    Weakness classes (CWE)

    • CWE-502Deserialization of Untrusted Data

      Base

      The product deserializes untrusted data without sufficiently ensuring that the resulting data will be valid.

      Entry at MITRE CWE-502

    Public exploit references

    Publicly reported proof-of-concepts, exploit modules and detection templates for this vulnerability. NEOSEC links to the original sources only and does not provide any exploit code.

    Public exploit references
    CISA KEV CatalogCISA Known Exploited Vulnerability (opens in a new tab)cisa.govactively exploited

    References & sources

    • solarwinds.comSolarWinds advisory: CVE-2024-28986Vendor advisory, pwn-watch
    • support.solarwinds.comSuccessCenter/s/article/WHD-12-8-3-Hotfix-1Broken link, Vendor advisory
    • cisa.govknown-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2024-28986government-resource, US government resource
    • pwn.watchpwn.watch: SolarWinds Web Help Desk Deserialization of Untrusted Datapwn-watch
    • NVD (NIST)NVD: CVE-2024-28986pwn-watch
    • cisa.govCISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalogpwn-watch
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