CVE-2020-15541
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 · uneditedSolarWinds Serv-U FTP server before 15.2.1 allows remote command execution.
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 · moderate confidenceSolarWinds Serv-U FTP server versions prior to 15.2.1 contain a vulnerability that allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary commands on the affected system. The critical severity (CVSS 9.8) indicates this is a pre-authentication attack vector enabling complete system compromise.
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< 15.2.1CVSS 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Locate Serv-U FTP Server installationCheck Windows Services for 'Serv-U' service, or look in Program Files for SolarWinds Serv-U folder. Also check the Serv-U Administrator console (typically accessible via https://localhost:8080 or port 6780).Affected if Serv-U FTP Server is installed on the system
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Identify installed Serv-U versionIn Serv-U Administrator console, go to Help > About. Alternatively, right-click the Serv-U executable in the installation folder and select Properties > Details to view the File Version.Affected if The displayed version number is lower than 15.2.1 (for example, 15.2.0, 15.1.x, or earlier)
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Confirm the installation path and executableVerify the primary Serv-U executable (Serv-U.exe) exists in the installation directory and note its full path for version correlation.Affected if The executable exists and corresponds to a vulnerable version (< 15.2.1)
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Check network exposure of FTP serviceUse netstat or a network scanner to confirm port 21 (or configured FTP port) is listening and accessible from network. This confirms the pre-authentication attack surface is reachable.Affected if The FTP service port is open and reachable from untrusted networks (pre-authentication means no credentials needed to exploit)
The system is affected if SolarWinds Serv-U FTP Server version 15.2.1 or later is NOT installed, meaning any version below 15.2.1 is vulnerable to remote command execution without authentication.
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.
dbcve · scoped15.2.1
Upgrade SolarWinds Serv-U FTP server to version 15.2.1 or later. If immediate patching is not possible, restrict network access to the FTP service and implement additional network segmentation as a temporary measure.
Serv-U 15.2.1 or later
- Download Serv-U version 15.2.1 or later from the official SolarWinds download portal
- Backup current Serv-U configuration and data
- Stop the Serv-U service before upgrading
- Install the updated Serv-U version 15.2.1 or newer
- Verify the installation completed successfully
- Restart the Serv-U service
- Confirm the vulnerability is remediated by verifying the Serv-U version
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-15541 — 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-2020-15541 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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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.
- 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