CVE-2024-28988
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 Web Help Desk was found to be susceptible to a Java Deserialization Remote Code Execution vulnerability that, if exploited, would allow an attacker to run commands on the host machine. This vulnerability was found by the ZDI team after researching a previous vulnerability and providing this report. The ZDI team was able to discover an unauthenticated attack during their research. We recommend all Web Help Desk customers apply the patch, which is now available. We thank Trend Micro Zero Day Initiative (ZDI) for its ongoing partnership in coordinating with SolarWinds on responsible disclosure of this and other potential vulnerabilities.
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 Web Help Desk contains a Java deserialization vulnerability that allows unauthenticated attackers to execute arbitrary commands on the host machine via maliciously crafted serialized Java objects. This is a critical RCE vulnerability with CVSS 9.8 indicating trivial exploitability without any authentication or privileges required.
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<= 12.8.2= 12.8.3CVSS 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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Identify if SolarWinds Web Help Desk is installedCheck for the SolarWinds Web Help Desk service on Windows (services.msc) or the installation directory (commonly C:\Program Files\SolarWinds\Web Help Desk or /opt/solarwinds/webhelpdesk on Linux)Affected if The service or installation directory exists on the system
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Determine the installed versionLocate the version file or check the About page in the Web Help Desk admin console. On Windows, check the registry key HKLM\SOFTWARE\SolarWinds\Web Help Desk\InstallDir or look for a version.txt in the installation directoryAffected if The version is 12.8.3 or any version 12.8.2 or lower
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Verify the application is network accessibleCheck if the Web Help Desk service is listening on network interfaces (typically ports 8080, 8443, or 20001). Use netstat -an | findstr '8080\|8443\|20001' to identify listening portsAffected if The service is listening on any interface other than localhost (127.0.0.1)
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Confirm Java deserialization endpoint is exposedTest if the Ticket API endpoint (commonly /helpdesk/ticket) is accessible via HTTP/HTTPS without authentication. This endpoint handles serialized Java object processingAffected if The API endpoint responds without requiring authentication
If SolarWinds Web Help Desk version 12.8.3 or any version <= 12.8.2 is installed and the service is network-accessible, the environment is affected by this unauthenticated RCE vulnerability.
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 SolarWinds patch immediately as this is an unauthenticated RCE vulnerability that can be exploited remotely. Prioritize patching given the critical severity rating.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing8.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2024-28988 — 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-2024-28988 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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