CVE-2021-27240
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 · uneditedThis vulnerability allows local attackers to escalate privileges on affected installations of SolarWinds Patch Manager 2020.2.1. An attacker must first obtain the ability to execute low-privileged code on the target system in order to exploit this vulnerability. The specific flaw exists within the DataGridService WCF service. The issue results from the lack of proper validation of user-supplied data, which can result in deserialization of untrusted data. An attacker can leverage this vulnerability to escalate privileges and execute arbitrary code in the context of Administrator. Was ZDI-CAN-12009.
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 confidenceSolarWinds Patch Manager 2020.2.1 contains a deserialization vulnerability in the DataGridService WCF service due to lack of proper validation of user-supplied data. An attacker with low-privileged code execution can exploit this to deserialize untrusted data and escalate privileges to Administrator, achieving arbitrary code execution.
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= 2020.2.1CVSS 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
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/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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Verify SolarWinds Patch Manager installationCheck for SolarWinds Patch Manager in Windows Add/Remove Programs, or look for installation directory under C:\Program Files\SolarWinds or C:\Program Files (x86)\SolarWindsAffected if SolarWinds Patch Manager is not installed on the system
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Identify installed versionCheck the version of SolarWinds Patch Manager by reviewing the software properties in Add/Remove Programs, or check the version info of the main executable in the installation directoryAffected if The installed version is exactly 2020.2.1
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Confirm DataGridService WCF service presenceCheck if the DataGridService WCF service endpoint is configured. This is typically hosted as a .svc file under the Patch Manager web directory in IIS or as part of the SolarWinds Orion infrastructureAffected if The DataGridService endpoint exists and is accessible
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Check service exposureReview IIS configuration or Windows service settings to determine if the DataGridService WCF service is exposed over network or localhostAffected if The DataGridService is exposed and accepts incoming connections
A system is affected if SolarWinds Patch Manager version 2020.2.1 is installed with the DataGridService WCF service enabled and accessible.
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.
From vendor dataApply the vendor-supplied security patch for SolarWinds Patch Manager 2020.2.1. Until the patch is available, consider disabling or restricting access to the DataGridService WCF service and monitoring for indicators of compromise.
- 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-2021-27240 — 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-2021-27240 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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- 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
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