Serv U Managed File TransferApplication · Solarwinds

CVE-2019-12769

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2020-03-18
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 15.1.5 or later.
See remediation →
95/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges

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 · unedited
SolarWinds Serv-U Managed File Transfer (MFT) Web client before 15.1.6 Hotfix 2 is vulnerable to Cross-Site Request Forgery in the file upload functionality via ?Command=Upload with the Dir and File parameters.

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 confidence

SolarWinds Serv-U Managed File Transfer Web client before version 15.1.6 Hotfix 2 is vulnerable to Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) in the file upload functionality. The vulnerability exists in the ?Command=Upload endpoint through the Dir and File parameters, allowing attackers to trick authenticated users into unknowingly uploading malicious files.

MitigationApply vendor hotfix 15.1.6 Hotfix 2 to remediate this vulnerability. Additionally, implement anti-CSRF tokens in the upload functionality as defense-in-depth.

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
Serv U Managed File TransferApplication
Affected:<= 15.1.5= 15.1.6

CVSS 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
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Determine Serv-U MFT version
    Locate the Serv-U installation and check the version number. This is typically visible in the Serv-U Administrator console, or can be found in the installation directory's version information.
    Affected if The installed version is 15.1.5 or earlier, OR the installed version is exactly 15.1.6 (without Hotfix 2). Compare your version against the affected ranges.
  2. Verify Web client is enabled
    Check if the Serv-U Web client interface is accessible. This is typically accessed via HTTP/HTTPS on the port configured during Serv-U installation (commonly ports 80, 443, or 8080).
    Affected if The Web client interface is enabled and reachable on your network.
  3. Check for upload functionality exposure
    Confirm that the file upload endpoint (?Command=Upload) is present and functional in the Web client. This can be done by accessing the Web client and navigating to the upload feature, or by reviewing the web application's exposed endpoints.
    Affected if The upload functionality with the Dir and File parameters is exposed and accessible through the Web client.
  4. Verify user authentication method
    Determine if users authenticate to the Serv-U Web client. CSRF attacks require an authenticated session to exploit the upload endpoint.
    Affected if Users authenticate to the Serv-U Web client interface.

You are affected if your Serv-U Managed File Transfer version is 15.1.5 or earlier, or exactly 15.1.6 without Hotfix 2, and the Web client with upload functionality is accessible to authenticated users.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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 data
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 15.1.5
Interim mitigation

Apply vendor hotfix 15.1.6 Hotfix 2 to remediate this vulnerability. Additionally, implement anti-CSRF tokens in the upload functionality as defense-in-depth.

Fix this in Serv U Managed File Transfer Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
7.0 hours of engineering $1,240
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,984.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2019-12769 — 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 sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2019-12769 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • 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