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Manageengine Adselfservice Plus CVE-2020-11552

CRITICAL
Improper Privilege Management (CWE-269)
2020-08-11 cve@mitre.org
9.8
CVSS 3.1 · NVD
View

Vulnerability Assessment

Weakness
CWE
OWASP Top 10:2025
A06:2025 - Insecure Design
ASVS 5.0
V8 - Authorization Least privilege enforcement
MITRE ATT&CK

1 technique across 1 tactic: Privilege Escalation

The technique list with ATT&CK links and the kill-chain view is part of the Basic plan and up.

Impact

CVSS score of 9.8 (CRITICAL). Attack characteristics: network attack vector, low complexity, no privileges required, no user interaction not required. Public proof-of-concept exploit code is available.

Exploit ScenarioDerived

A remote attacker could escalate privileges to gain unauthorized elevated access by sending crafted requests to the affected application. No authentication is required to exploit this vulnerability.

Act Now Prioritize within 24-48h. Why: CRITICAL severity + public POC available.
No patch listed yet 7.4% exploitation probability (EPSS)

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AnalysisAI

An elevation of privilege vulnerability exists in ManageEngine ADSelfService Plus before build 6003 because it does not properly enforce user privileges associated with a Certificate dialog. Rated critical severity (CVSS 9.8), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.

RemediationAI

No vendor patch is available at time of analysis. Monitor vendor advisories for updates. Apply principle of least privilege, validate privilege transitions, implement proper role separation.

Affects your stack

Find out whether the stacks and servers you run are on an affected version.

Checking this CVE against your own stacks and servers is part of the Basic plan and up.

Technical ContextAI · show details

This vulnerability is classified as Improper Privilege Management (CWE-269), which allows attackers to escalate privileges to gain unauthorized elevated access. An elevation of privilege vulnerability exists in ManageEngine ADSelfService Plus before build 6003 because it does not properly enforce user privileges associated with a Certificate dialog. This vulnerability could allow an unauthenticated attacker to escalate privileges on a Windows host. An attacker does not require any privilege on the target system in order to exploit this vulnerability. One option is the self-service option on the Windows login screen. Upon selecting this option, the thick-client software is launched, which connects to a remote ADSelfService Plus server to facilitate self-service operations. An unauthenticated attacker having physical access to the host could trigger a security alert by supplying a self-signed SSL certificate to the client. The View Certificate option from the security alert allows an attacker to export a displayed certificate to a file. This can further cascade to a dialog that can open Explorer as SYSTEM. By navigating from Explorer to \windows\system32, cmd.exe can be launched as a SYSTEM. Affected products include: Zohocorp Manageengine Adselfservice Plus.

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  • Exploit and PoC references, threat intelligence from 22 sources

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Severity by source

NVD PRIMARY 9.8 CRITICAL
AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Primary rating from NVD · only source for this CVE.

CVSS VectorNVD

Attack Vector
Network
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
None
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

DescriptionNVD

An elevation of privilege vulnerability exists in ManageEngine ADSelfService Plus before build 6003 because it does not properly enforce user privileges associated with a Certificate dialog. This vulnerability could allow an unauthenticated attacker to escalate privileges on a Windows host. An attacker does not require any privilege on the target system in order to exploit this vulnerability. One option is the self-service option on the Windows login screen. Upon selecting this option, the thick-client software is launched, which connects to a remote ADSelfService Plus server to facilitate self-service operations. An unauthenticated attacker having physical access to the host could trigger a security alert by supplying a self-signed SSL certificate to the client. The View Certificate option from the security alert allows an attacker to export a displayed certificate to a file. This can further cascade to a dialog that can open Explorer as SYSTEM. By navigating from Explorer to \windows\system32, cmd.exe can be launched as a SYSTEM.

Threat Intelligence Overview

EPSS Score
7.4%
Top 6% exploitable
Exploit
POC
Public exploit code exists
Data Quality
3 sources
Confidence: Low

How this decision was reached

The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.

SignalValue
Severity CRITICAL
CISA KEV No
Public POC Yes
EPSS 7.4%
Patch available No
Active threat No
Deciding rule
CRITICAL severity + public POC available
What every action level means
Emergency Immediate action required. Criteria: CRITICAL + in CISA KEV (actively exploited) without patch, OR CRITICAL + EPSS > 30% without patch, OR CRITICAL + active threat signals without patch.
Act Now Prioritize within 24-48h. Criteria: in KEV with patch available, OR CRITICAL + public POC, OR HIGH + EPSS > 10%, OR CRITICAL + active threat, OR any CRITICAL severity.
This Week Schedule remediation this week. Criteria: HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9). Patch within normal change window.
This Month Plan within 30 days. Criteria: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9), lower exploitation probability. Include in regular patch cycle.
Monitor Track and reassess. Criteria: LOW severity (CVSS 0.1-3.9), minimal exploitation risk. No immediate action needed.

SSVC AssessmentENISA

SSVC Decision· derived
Scheduled
Exploitation· derived
Poc
System Exposure· derived
Open
Automatable· derived
Yes
Human Impact· derived
Medium

Priority Score

76
Low Medium High Critical
KEV: 0
EPSS: +7
CVSS: +49
PoC: +20
Weaponized: 0
Threat intel: 0
Gov advisory: 0

Attack Technique

Privilege escalation occurs when an attacker leverages flaws in access control mechanisms to gain permissions beyond what they were originally granted.

Affected Products (CPE)NVD

cpe:2.3:a:zohocorp:manageengine_adselfservice_plus:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:zohocorp:manageengine_adselfservice_plus:6.0:-:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:zohocorp:manageengine_adselfservice_plus:6.0:6000:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:zohocorp:manageengine_adselfservice_plus:6.0:6001:*:*:*:*:*:*
cpe:2.3:a:zohocorp:manageengine_adselfservice_plus:6.0:6002:*:*:*:*:*:*
CVE-2022-47966 CRITICAL POC
9.8 Jan 18

Multiple Zoho ManageEngine on-premise products allow unauthenticated remote code execution through SAML SSO functionalit

CVE-2021-40539 CRITICAL POC
9.8 Sep 07

Zoho ManageEngine ADSelfService Plus version 6113 and prior is vulnerable to REST API authentication bypass with resulta

CVE-2018-5353 CRITICAL POC
9.8 Sep 30

The custom GINA/CP module in Zoho ManageEngine ADSelfService Plus before 5.5 build 5517 allows remote attackers to execu

CVE-2022-28810 MEDIUM POC
6.8 Apr 18

Zoho ManageEngine ADSelfService Plus before build 6122 allows a remote authenticated administrator to execute arbitrary

CVE-2022-29457 HIGH POC
8.8 Apr 18

Zoho ManageEngine ADSelfService Plus before 6121, ADAuditPlus 7060, Exchange Reporter Plus 5701, and ADManagerPlus 7131

CVE-2021-33256 HIGH POC
8.8 Aug 09

A CSV injection vulnerability on the login panel of ManageEngine ADSelfService Plus Version: 6.1 Build No: 6101 can be e

CVE-2019-12876 HIGH POC
7.3 Jul 17

Zoho ManageEngine ADManager Plus 6.6.5, ADSelfService Plus 5.7, and DesktopCentral 10.0.380 have Insecure Permissions, l

CVE-2019-12476 MEDIUM POC
6.8 Jun 17

An authentication bypass vulnerability in the password reset functionality in Zoho ManageEngine ADSelfService Plus befor

CVE-2022-24681 MEDIUM POC
6.1 Apr 07

Zoho ManageEngine ADSelfService Plus before 6121 allows XSS via the welcome name attribute to the Reset Password, Unlock

CVE-2021-37416 MEDIUM POC
6.1 Aug 30

Zoho ManageEngine ADSelfService Plus version 6103 and prior is vulnerable to reflected XSS on the loadframe page. Rated

CVE-2021-27956 MEDIUM POC
6.1 May 20

Zoho ManageEngine ADSelfService Plus before 6104 allows stored XSS on the /webclient/index.html#/directory-search user s

CVE-2021-27214 MEDIUM POC
6.1 Feb 19

A Server-side request forgery (SSRF) vulnerability in the ProductConfig servlet in Zoho ManageEngine ADSelfService Plus

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