CVE-2025-40536: SolarWinds Web Help Desk Security Control Bypass Vulnerability
- Is it exploited?
Yes. CISA added it to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on 12 Feb 2026, 15 days after the CVE record was published.
- How likely is exploitation in the next 30 days?
- 73.6%
EPSS score, percentile 99.5 of all scored records
- How severe?
- 8.1 High
CVSS v3.1 base score, given by the CNA
- What should I do?
Required action (CISA), due 15 Feb 2026: Apply mitigations per vendor instructions, follow applicable BOD 22-01 guidance for cloud services, or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.
- Which versions are affected?
Affected: 12.8.8 HF1 and below
Source: CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog, 2026.10.28, as of 28 Oct 2026; FIRST Exploit Prediction Scoring System (EPSS), v2026.06.15, as of 28 Oct 2026; CVE List V5 (CVE Program), cve_2026-10-28_0000Z, as of 28 Oct 2026. About the data.
What to do
Required action, set by CISA
Apply mitigations per vendor instructions, follow applicable BOD 22-01 guidance for cloud services, or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.
CISA due date for this action: 15 February 2026.
Solution (from the CVE record)
SolarWinds recommends customers upgrade to Web Help Desk version 2026.1.
Advisories and patches
Linked from CISA's catalog entry
- https://documentation.solarwinds.com/en/success_center/whd/content/release_notes/whd_2026-1_release_notes.htm
- https://www.solarwinds.com/trust-center/security-advisories/CVE-2025-40536
- https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-40536
Affected products and versions
As listed in the CVE record.
| Status | Versions |
|---|---|
| Affected | 12.8.8 HF1 and below |
Versions not listed are: affected.
Source: CVE List V5 (CVE Program), cve_2026-10-28_0000Z, as of 28 Oct 2026. About the data.
About this vulnerability
SolarWinds Web Help Desk contains a security control bypass vulnerability that could allow an unauthenticated attacker to gain access to certain restricted functionality.
Summary: CISA's KEV catalog, as of 28 Oct 2026.
- CISA added CVE-2025-40536 to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog on 12 Feb 2026.
- CISA's ransomware flag for this entry is "Unknown": no evidence of ransomware use in the catalog, which is not proof of none.
- The due date CISA sets for the required action is 15 Feb 2026.
- The CVE record was published on 28 Jan 2026, 15 days before it was added to KEV.
- The CVE record carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 8.1 (High), given by its CNA.
- FIRST's EPSS model puts the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days at 73.6% (percentile 99.5), as of 28 Oct 2026.
- CISA's SSVC assessment in the CVE record: exploitation active, automatable no, technical impact total.
Source: CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog, 2026.10.28, as of 28 Oct 2026; CVE List V5 (CVE Program), cve_2026-10-28_0000Z, as of 28 Oct 2026; FIRST Exploit Prediction Scoring System (EPSS), v2026.06.15, as of 28 Oct 2026. About the data.
Description
SolarWinds Web Help Desk Security Control Bypass Vulnerability
SolarWinds Web Help Desk was found to be susceptible to a security control bypass vulnerability that if exploited, could allow an unauthenticated attacker to gain access to certain restricted functionality.
Source: CVE List V5 (CVE Program), cve_2026-10-28_0000Z, as of 28 Oct 2026. About the data.
Weakness
- CWE-693: Protection Mechanism Failure
Attack patterns (CAPEC)
- CAPEC-153: Input Data Manipulation
CWE and CAPEC are maintained by MITRE; the entries are those named in the CVE record and the KEV entry.
Timeline
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 28 Jan 2026 | CVE record published |
| 12 Feb 2026 | Added to CISA KEV |
| 15 Feb 2026 | CISA due date for the required action |
| 26 Feb 2026 | CVE record last updated |
More exploited SolarWinds vulnerabilities
- CVE-2026-28318: SolarWinds Serv-U Uncontrolled Resource Consumption Vulnerability
- CVE-2025-26399: SolarWinds Web Help Desk Deserialization of Untrusted Data Vulnerability
- CVE-2025-40551: SolarWinds Web Help Desk Deserialization of Untrusted Data Vulnerability
- CVE-2024-28987: SolarWinds Web Help Desk Hardcoded Credential Vulnerability
- CVE-2024-28986: SolarWinds Web Help Desk Deserialization of Untrusted Data Vulnerability
- CVE-2024-28995: SolarWinds Serv-U Path Traversal Vulnerability