Orion Network Performance MonitorApplication · Solarwinds

CVE-2019-8917

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2019-02-18
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 12.4 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

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 Orion NPM before 12.4 suffers from a SYSTEM remote code execution vulnerability in the OrionModuleEngine service. This service establishes a NetTcpBinding endpoint that allows remote, unauthenticated clients to connect and call publicly exposed methods. The InvokeActionMethod method may be abused by an attacker to execute commands as the SYSTEM user.

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 Orion NPM before 12.4 contains a critical remote code execution vulnerability in the OrionModuleEngine service. The service exposes a NetTcpBinding endpoint that accepts remote, unauthenticated connections and exposes the InvokeActionMethod method, which attackers can abuse to execute arbitrary commands with SYSTEM-level privileges.

MitigationUpgrade SolarWinds Orion NPM to version 12.4 or later. Additionally, restrict network access to the OrionModuleEngine service by placing it behind a firewall or VPN, and disable the NetTcpBinding endpoint if not required for business operations.

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
Orion Network Performance MonitorApplication
Affected:< 12.4

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
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/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 checks

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

  1. Check installed SolarWinds Orion NPM version
    Access the Orion web interface and navigate to the About or Help section to view the version number, or check the Windows Programs and Features list for the installed Orion NPM version.
    Affected if The installed version is any version prior to 12.4 (for example, 12.3, 12.3.1, 12.2, etc.)
  2. Verify OrionModuleEngine service is present
    Open Windows Services (services.msc) and locate the SolarWinds OrionModuleEngine service, or run 'Get-Service' PowerShell command to list services containing 'OrionModuleEngine'.
    Affected if The OrionModuleEngine service exists and is running on the system.
  3. Confirm NetTcpBinding endpoint is configured
    Examine the OrionModuleEngine configuration files (typically the web.config or app.config for the service) for NetTcpBinding endpoint definitions, or use a WCF diagnostic tool to enumerate active endpoints.
    Affected if The service exposes a NetTcpBinding endpoint that accepts remote connections.
  4. Assess network accessibility of the OrionModuleEngine service
    Use netstat or a similar tool to check for listening TCP ports associated with the OrionModuleEngine service, and verify whether these ports are bound to external IP addresses or are accessible from untrusted networks.
    Affected if The OrionModuleEngine NetTcpBinding endpoint is listening on a port accessible from untrusted network segments.

You are affected if your SolarWinds Orion NPM version is before 12.4 AND the OrionModuleEngine service with its NetTcpBinding endpoint is running and network-accessible.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 12.4 or later
Fixed in 12.4
Interim mitigation

Upgrade SolarWinds Orion NPM to version 12.4 or later. Additionally, restrict network access to the OrionModuleEngine service by placing it behind a firewall or VPN, and disable the NetTcpBinding endpoint if not required for business operations.

Recommended fix High confidence

Orion NPM 12.4 or later (recommended: latest stable release)

  1. Backup the current Orion NPM database and configuration
  2. Download SolarWinds Orion NPM version 12.4 or later from the official SolarWinds customer portal
  3. Stop all SolarWinds services on the server running Orion NPM
  4. Run the installer for version 12.4 or later
  5. Follow the upgrade wizard prompts, ensuring the upgrade option is selected rather than a fresh install
  6. Allow the upgrade to complete and verify all services start successfully
  7. Confirm the OrionModuleEngine service is running and verify the NetTcpBinding endpoint is no longer exposed to unauthenticated remote access
  8. After upgrade, apply any subsequent hotfixes or security patches released after 12.4
Caveat Review SolarWinds release notes for version 12.4 to check for required prerequisites, potential plugin incompatibilities, and database schema changes that may affect custom integrations

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Orion Network Performance Monitor Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation6.0 h
  • Implementation12.0 h
  • Testing10.0 h
  • Review / QA6.0 h
34.0 hours of engineering $5,940
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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-2019-8917 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