dbcve.org
Manageengine Desktop CentralApplication · Zohocorp

CVE-2020-28050

CRITICAL · 9.1 CVSS v3.1 Published 2021-03-05
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 10.0.647 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
Zoho ManageEngine Desktop Central before build 10.0.647 allows a single authentication secret from multiple agents to communicate with the server.

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 confidence

Zoho ManageEngine Desktop Central before build 10.0.647 contains a shared authentication secret vulnerability where multiple agents use the same secret to authenticate with the server. This allows any agent possessing the shared secret to communicate with the server, enabling potential unauthorized access and agent impersonation.

MitigationUpgrade to Zoho ManageEngine Desktop Central build 10.0.647 or later which implements proper per-agent authentication mechanisms instead of a shared secret.

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
Manageengine Desktop CentralApplication
Affected:< 10.0.647

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
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N

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 Desktop Central installation path
    Locate the ManageEngine Desktop Central installation directory. Common paths include C:\ManageEngine\DesktopCentral on Windows or /opt/ManageEngine/DesktopCentral on Linux. Look for the 'DesktopCentral.bat', 'startDesktopCenter.bat', or 'run.sh' startup scripts.
    Affected if Cannot locate the installation or the product is not Desktop Central
  2. Determine installed build version
    Check the build version by opening the Desktop Central web console and looking at the login page footer, or by checking the 'build.conf' or 'version.txt' file in the installation directory. The version format is typically 10.0.XXX where XXX is the build number.
    Affected if Version cannot be determined or is not visible
  3. Compare version against affected range
    If you obtained a version number in the format 10.0.XXX, compare the build number (XXX) to 647. Versions with build numbers below 647 are affected by this vulnerability.
    Affected if Build number is less than 647 (e.g., 10.0.500, 10.0.600, etc.)
  4. Verify agent deployment status
    Confirm whether agents are deployed in your environment by checking the 'Agent' or 'Agents' section in the Desktop Central web console to see if any managed agents exist.
    Affected if No agents are deployed - the vulnerability is only applicable if agents exist

You are affected if your Zoho ManageEngine Desktop Central build version is below 10.0.647 and you have agents deployed that authenticate using the shared secret mechanism.

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 10.0.647 or later
Fixed in 10.0.647
Interim mitigation

Upgrade to Zoho ManageEngine Desktop Central build 10.0.647 or later which implements proper per-agent authentication mechanisms instead of a shared secret.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

ManageEngine Desktop Central build 10.0.647 or later

  1. 1. Backup your current ManageEngine Desktop Central installation and database
  2. 2. Download the latest version of ManageEngine Desktop Central from the official vendor website
  3. 3. Verify the build version is 10.0.647 or later
  4. 4. Stop the Desktop Central server service
  5. 5. Install the updated build following vendor documentation
  6. 6. Start the Desktop Central server service
  7. 7. Verify the server is operational and agents can communicate successfully
  8. 8. Review server logs to confirm normal authentication behavior
Caveat Review vendor release notes for any changes to agent-server communication protocols before upgrading

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

Fix this in Manageengine Desktop Central Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
24.0 hours of engineering $4,160
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $6,656.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-28050 — 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-2020-28050 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