CVE-2019-12133
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedMultiple Zoho ManageEngine products suffer from local privilege escalation due to improper permissions for the %SYSTEMDRIVE%\ManageEngine directory and its sub-folders. Moreover, the services associated with said products try to execute binaries such as sc.exe from the current directory upon system start. This will effectively allow non-privileged users to escalate privileges to NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM. This affects Desktop Central 10.0.380, EventLog Analyzer 12.0.2, ServiceDesk Plus 10.0.0, SupportCenter Plus 8.1, O365 Manager Plus 4.0, Mobile Device Manager Plus 9.0.0, Patch Connect Plus 9.0.0, Vulnerability Manager Plus 9.0.0, Patch Manager Plus 9.0.0, OpManager 12.3, NetFlow Analyzer 11.0, OpUtils 11.0, Network Configuration Manager 11.0, FireWall 12.0, Key Manager Plus 5.6, Password Manager Pro 9.9, Analytics Plus 1.0, and Browser Security Plus.
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · high confidenceMultiple Zoho ManageEngine products have insecure directory permissions on %SYSTEMDRIVE%\ManageEngine and its subfolders, allowing low-privilege users to write files. Additionally, associated services execute binaries like sc.exe from the current working directory on startup. Attackers can place malicious executables in these locations to achieve NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM privilege escalation.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE data= 1.0all versions= 10.0.380= 12.0.2= 12.0= 5.6= 9.0.0= 11.0CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify ManageEngine product installationsCheck for the presence of the %SYSTEMDRIVE%\ManageEngine directory and its subfolders. Look for product-specific subdirectories such as Analytics Plus, Browser Security Plus, Desktop Central, EventLog Analyzer, Firewall, Key Manager Plus, MDMD Plus, or NetFlow Analyzer.Affected if The ManageEngine directory and any product subdirectories exist on the system.
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Verify installed product versionsLocate version information within each product subdirectory, typically found in version.txt, about.txt, or the product's service configuration files. Compare against the affected version ranges: Analytics Plus 1.0, Browser Security Plus (all versions), Desktop Central 10.0.380, EventLog Analyzer 12.0.2, Firewall 12.0, Key Manager Plus 5.6, Mobile Device Manager Plus 9.0.0, NetFlow Analyzer 11.0.Affected if Any installed product matches one of the affected versions listed.
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Inspect directory permissions on ManageEngine folderRight-click the %SYSTEMDRIVE%\ManageEngine folder, select Properties, then the Security tab. Examine which users and groups have Write or Full Control permissions. Use icacls %SYSTEMDRIVE%\ManageEngine /T to list all permissions recursively.Affected if Non-privileged users or the Users group have Write or Full Control permissions on the ManageEngine directory or its subfolders.
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Check service binary execution pathsOpen Services console (services.msc), locate services associated with installed ManageEngine products. Right-click each service, select Properties, and examine the Path to executable field. Check if it points to a binary in the ManageEngine directory structure.Affected if A ManageEngine service is configured to execute a binary from within the %SYSTEMDRIVE%\ManageEngine directory tree.
A system is affected if it has any Zoho ManageEngine product installed with the specific affected version AND the ManageEngine directory grants write access to low-privilege users, allowing potential SYSTEM privilege escalation via service binary placement.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
From vendor dataApply vendor patches from ManageEngine to fix the service binary execution path issue and restrict permissions on the ManageEngine directory to prevent unauthorized file write access by non-privileged users.
- Consultation8.0 h
- Implementation16.0 h
- Testing8.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $10,240.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2019-12133 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2019-12133 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data