What is the CVSS score of CVE-2025-40552?

CVE-2025-40552 has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 9.8 (Critical). CVSS vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H. EPSS exploitation probability: 9.9%.

Is there a public PoC exploit available for CVE-2025-40552?

Yes, a public proof-of-concept exploit is available for CVE-2025-40552. Prioritise patching immediately. EPSS: 9.9%.

How to fix or mitigate CVE-2025-40552?

Within 24 hours: Identify all SolarWinds Web Help Desk instances in your environment and isolate them from untrusted networks; enable comprehensive logging and begin threat hunting for suspicious activity. Within 7 days: Implement network segmentation to restrict access to Web Help Desk to authorized users only, deploy WAF rules to block exploitation attempts, and contact SolarWinds for patch timelines and workarounds. Within 30 days: Evaluate migration to alternative help desk solutions or maintain strict network access controls until an official patch is released; conduct a full security audit of affected systems.

Web Help Desk CVE-2025-40552

CRITICAL

Weak Authentication (CWE-1390)

2026-01-28 psirt@solarwinds.com

Authentication Bypass Web Help Desk Solarwinds

9.8

CVSS 3.1 · NVD

View

Vulnerability Assessment

Weakness	CWE CWE-1390 OWASP Top 10:2025 A07:2025 - Authentication Failures ASVS 5.0 V6 - Authentication Strong authentication
Impact	CVSS 9.8, EPSS 9.9%. Second of four critical SolarWinds WHD vulnerabilities. Combined with the deserialization RCE (CVE-2025-40551), attackers have multiple paths to full compromise.
Exploit ScenarioDerived	An attacker bypasses authentication to gain admin access to the helpdesk, viewing all support tickets (which often contain credentials, network diagrams, and sensitive information) and modifying system configuration.

Act Now Prioritize within 24-48h. Why: CRITICAL severity + public POC available.

No patch listed yet 9.9% exploitation probability (EPSS)

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AnalysisAIv1 – Mar 12, 2026

SolarWinds Web Help Desk has an authentication bypass vulnerability (EPSS 9.9%) that allows unauthenticated attackers to gain admin access to the helpdesk system.

Earlier versions of this analysis (1)

v1 Mar 12, 2026 - 21:54 CVSS 9.8

Authentication bypass in SolarWinds WHD enables unauthenticated admin access.

RemediationAI

Patch all four WHD vulnerabilities simultaneously. Assume compromise if running affected versions.

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

SolarWinds WHD has a CWE-1390 weak authentication vulnerability that allows attackers to bypass authentication and gain administrative access without credentials.

Know when Web Help Desk gets its next vulnerability

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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

DescriptionCVE.org

SolarWinds Web Help Desk was found to be susceptible to an authentication bypass vulnerability that if exploited, would allow a malicious actor to execute actions and methods that should be protected by authentication.

Executive ViewAI

Why It Matters

SolarWinds Web Help Desk contains a critical authentication bypass vulnerability (CVSS 9.8) that allows attackers to perform unauthorized actions without valid credentials. Any organization using this product faces immediate risk of unauthorized access, data theft, and system compromise, with no vendor patch currently available to remediate the threat.

Business Impact: Severe

Compensating Controls

Network segmentation and IP whitelisting to restrict access to Web Help Desk; Web Application Firewall (WAF) rules to detect and block authentication bypass exploitation patterns; disable public internet exposure of Web Help Desk interfaces; implement enhanced logging and real-time alerting for authentication and administrative activities; consider temporary service shutdown until patch availability is confirmed; implement reverse proxy with additional authentication controls in front of the application.

Threat Intelligence Overview

EPSS Score

9.9%

Top 7% exploitable

Exploit

POC

Public exploit code exists

Data Quality

4 sources

Confidence: Medium

NVD

CVE.org

EPSS POC (1)

GitHub

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 9.9%

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

Out-of-Cycle

Exploitation· derived

Poc

System Exposure· derived

Open

Automatable· derived

Yes

Human Impact

Very High

Priority Score

Low Medium High Critical

KEV: 0

EPSS: +10

CVSS: +49

PoC: +20

Weaponized: 0

Threat intel: 0

Gov advisory: 0

Attack Technique

Authentication Bypass CRITICAL

Authentication bypass attacks exploit flaws in the verification mechanisms that control access to systems and applications.

Affected Products (CPE)CVE.org

cpe:2.3:a:solarwinds:web_help_desk:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

More in Web Help Desk

View all

CVE-2025-40551 CRITICAL Emergency POC

9.8 Jan 28

SolarWinds Web Help Desk contains an unauthenticated Java deserialization vulnerability (CVE-2025-40551, CVSS 9.8) that

CVE-2025-40536 HIGH Act Now POC

8.1 Jan 28

SolarWinds Web Help Desk contains a security control bypass vulnerability (CVE-2025-40536) that allows unauthenticated a

CVE-2025-26399 CRITICAL Act Now POC

9.8 Sep 23

SolarWinds Web Help Desk contains an unauthenticated deserialization RCE via AjaxProxy, a patch bypass of both CVE-2024-

CVE-2025-40554 CRITICAL Act Now POC

9.8 Jan 28

SolarWinds Web Help Desk has a second authentication bypass (EPSS 7.8%) providing yet another path to unauthenticated ad

CVE-2024-28986 CRITICAL Act Now POC

9.8 Aug 13

SolarWinds Web Help Desk was found to be susceptible to a Java Deserialization Remote Code Execution vulnerability that,

CVE-2024-28987 CRITICAL Act Now POC

9.1 Aug 21

The SolarWinds Web Help Desk (WHD) software is affected by a hardcoded credential vulnerability, allowing remote unauthe

CVE-2025-40553 CRITICAL Act Now POC

9.8 Jan 28

SolarWinds Web Help Desk has a second deserialization vulnerability (EPSS 11.9%) providing another unauthenticated RCE p

CVE-2024-28988 CRITICAL Act Now

9.8 Sep 01

SolarWinds Web Help Desk was found to be susceptible to a Java Deserialization Remote Code Execution vulnerability that,

CVE-2026-28323 CRITICAL Act Now

9.8 Jul 30

Authentication bypass in SolarWinds Web Help Desk (WHD) allows remote unauthenticated attackers to circumvent SAML 2.0 s

CVE-2026-28299 HIGH This Week

7.5 Jun 02

Denial-of-service in SolarWinds Web Help Desk (2026.1 and all prior versions) lets remote unauthenticated attackers exha

CVE-2025-40537 HIGH This Week

7.5 Jan 28

SolarWinds Web Help Desk was found to be susceptible to a hardcoded credentials vulnerability that, under certain situat

CVE-2021-35243 HIGH This Week

7.5 Dec 23

The HTTP PUT and DELETE methods were enabled in the Web Help Desk web server (12.7.7 and earlier), allowing users to exe

Same weakness CWE-1390 – Weak Authentication

View all

CVE-2026-55040 CRITICAL POC

9.1

CVE-2024-34451 CRITICAL POC

9.1

CVE-2024-36787 HIGH POC

8.8

CVE-2026-93355 HIGH POC

7.6

CVE-2024-0822 HIGH POC

7.5

CVE-2026-73819 CRITICAL

9.3

CVE-2026-68067 CRITICAL

9.3

Same technique Authentication Bypass

View all

CVE-2015-3306 CRITICAL POC

10.0

CVE-2023-22515 CRITICAL POC

9.8

CVE-2012-4681 CRITICAL POC

9.8

CVE-2013-2465 CRITICAL POC

9.8

CVE-2011-3544 CRITICAL POC

9.8

CVE-2022-40684 CRITICAL POC

9.8

CVE-2025-61882 CRITICAL POC

9.8

CVE-2024-0012 CRITICAL POC

9.3

References

Advisories & patches

ADVISORY https://www.solarwinds.com/trust-center/security-advisories/CVE-2025-40552 REF https://documentation.solarwinds.com/en/success_center/whd/content/release_notes/whd_2026-1_release_notes.htm REF https://github.com/watchtowrlabs/watchTowr-vs-SolarWinds-WebHelpDesk-CVE-2025-40552-CVE-2025-40553/blob/main/watchTowr-vs-SolarWinds-WebHelpDesk-CVE-2025-40552-CVE-2025-40553.py

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