dbcve.org
Actively exploited in the wild. This CVE is on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities list — treat remediation as urgent. Federal remediation due by 3 May 2022.
Orion PlatformApplication · Solarwinds

CVE-2020-10148

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2020-12-29
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
In the wild High EPSS 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
The SolarWinds Orion API is vulnerable to an authentication bypass that could allow a remote attacker to execute API commands. This vulnerability could allow a remote attacker to bypass authentication and execute API commands which may result in a compromise of the SolarWinds instance. SolarWinds Orion Platform versions 2019.4 HF 5, 2020.2 with no hotfix installed, and 2020.2 HF 1 are affected.

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

The SolarWinds Orion API contains an authentication bypass vulnerability that allows remote attackers to bypass authentication entirely and execute API commands. This occurs in the Orion Platform's API interface, enabling complete compromise of the SolarWinds instance without valid credentials.

MitigationApply the vendor-supplied hotfixes (2019.4 HF5, 2020.2 HF1) or upgrade to a patched version of the SolarWinds Orion Platform to remediate the authentication bypass.

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 PlatformApplication
Affected:= 2019.4= 2020.2= 2020.2.1

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:3.1/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. Identify if SolarWinds Orion Platform is installed
    Check for SolarWinds Orion installation directories (typically C:\Program Files\SolarWinds\Orion) or look for the SolarWinds Orion service in Windows Services (swOrion, SolarWinds Orion Business Layer, etc.)
    Affected if SolarWinds Orion Platform is not present on the system
  2. Determine the installed Orion Platform version
    Check the version of the Orion Platform by inspecting the file version of OrionWeb.dll in the bin folder (e.g., C:\Program Files\SolarWinds\Orion\bin\OrionWeb.dll) or by querying the Orion API endpoint /api/solarwinds/Orion.Introduction.aspx
    Affected if The installed version matches 2019.4, 2020.2, or 2020.2.1
  3. Verify if the Orion API is accessible
    Attempt to access the SolarWinds API endpoints externally or check if the API ports (default 17778 for HTTP, 17779 for HTTPS) are listening and exposed by running 'netstat -an | findstr 17778' or 'netstat -an | findstr 17779'
    Affected if The API endpoints are listening and reachable from network locations where untrusted users could submit requests
  4. Check API authentication behavior
    Submit an unauthenticated request to a protected API endpoint such as /api/solarwinds/Orion.Inventory.aspx/achines to observe if the request is processed without requiring valid credentials
    Affected if The API processes requests without returning an authentication error (401 or redirect to login)

You are affected if SolarWinds Orion Platform is installed, running version 2019.4, 2020.2, or 2020.2.1, and the API interface is accessible without requiring authentication credentials.

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
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Apply the vendor-supplied hotfixes (2019.4 HF5, 2020.2 HF1) or upgrade to a patched version of the SolarWinds Orion Platform to remediate the authentication bypass.

Recommended fix High confidence

Orion Platform 2020.2.1 HF 2 or later stable release

  1. 1. Identify the current installed version of SolarWinds Orion Platform by checking the Orion website or the About section in the Orion web console.
  2. 2. Download the fixed release: Orion Platform 2020.2.1 HF 2 or later, which includes the security patch for CVE-2020-10148.
  3. 3. Review the SolarWinds release notes and upgrade prerequisites before proceeding.
  4. 4. Create a complete backup of the Orion database and configuration, as well as a snapshot of the server if running in a virtual environment.
  5. 5. Schedule an appropriate maintenance window, as the upgrade will require service downtime.
  6. 6. Stop all Orion services (SolarWinds Orion Module Service, SolarWinds Business Layer Service, SolarWinds Collector Service, etc.).
  7. 7. Run the installer for Orion Platform 2020.2.1 HF 2 or the latest stable release.
  8. 8. Follow the on-screen upgrade wizard prompts, allowing it to complete database migrations.
Caveat Review release notes for any breaking changes between your current version and the target version; some plugin compatibility may be affected

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

Fix this in Orion Platform Exploited in the wild — priority engagement
  • Consultation8.0 h
  • Implementation16.0 h
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
36.0 hours of engineering $6,400
Get help mitigating

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 locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-10148 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

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-2020-10148 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

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