dbcve.org
Network Performance MonitorApplication · Solarwinds

CVE-2021-31474

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2021-05-21
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 2020.2.5 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
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
This vulnerability allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary code on affected installations of SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor 2020.2.1. Authentication is not required to exploit this vulnerability. The specific flaw exists within the SolarWinds.Serialization library. 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 execute code in the context of SYSTEM. Was ZDI-CAN-12213.

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

Insecure deserialization in the SolarWinds.Serialization library allows unauthenticated remote attackers to execute arbitrary code as SYSTEM by sending specially crafted serialized data that is deserialized without proper validation.

MitigationApply vendor-provided patch immediately. Until patched, isolate affected systems on restricted network segments and implement additional monitoring for indicators of 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
Network Performance MonitorApplication
Affected:>= 2020.2.1, < 2020.2.5

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 SolarWinds NPM installation
    Locate the SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor installation on the system - typically found in C:\Program Files (x86)\SolarWinds\ or C:\Program Files\SolarWinds\
    Affected if The software is installed on this system
  2. Determine installed NPM version
    Open the SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor interface and navigate to Help > About, or check the version via the installer/registry at HKLM\SOFTWARE\SolarWinds\NPM\CurrentVersion
    Affected if Version number is 2020.2.1, 2020.2.2, 2020.2.3, or 2020.2.4 (any version >= 2020.2.1 but < 2020.2.5)
  3. Verify SolarWinds.Serialization library presence
    Search for SolarWinds.Serialization.dll in the installation directory - typically under the bin or Common\Lib folders within the NPM installation path
    Affected if The vulnerable serialization library exists in the installation directory (this library is present by default in affected versions)
  4. Confirm service account context
    Check the Windows service for SolarWinds NPM - open Services, find the SolarWinds NPM service, right-click Properties and check the Log On account
    Affected if Service runs as SYSTEM (Local System) - the vulnerability allows code execution at this privilege level

If SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor version is 2020.2.1 through 2020.2.4 inclusive, the system is affected by this insecure deserialization vulnerability.

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 2020.2.5 or later
Fixed in 2020.2.5
Interim mitigation

Apply vendor-provided patch immediately. Until patched, isolate affected systems on restricted network segments and implement additional monitoring for indicators of compromise.

Recommended fix High confidence

2020.2.5 or later

  1. Obtain SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor version 2020.2.5 or later from the official SolarWinds customer portal or download center
  2. Review the official SolarWinds release notes and upgrade documentation for version 2020.2.5
  3. Create a complete backup of the current NPM installation and database
  4. Stop the SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor service
  5. Install version 2020.2.5 or later following the standard upgrade procedure provided in the documentation
  6. Start the SolarWinds Network Performance Monitor service
  7. Verify the installation completed successfully and the service is operational
Caveat Review release notes for any configuration or feature changes between your current version and 2020.2.5 before upgrading

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

Fix this in Network Performance Monitor Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
6.0 hours of engineering $1,040
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,664.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-31474 — 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-2021-31474 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