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Web Help DeskApplication · Solarwinds

CVE-2024-28989

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-02-11
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 12.8.5 or later.
See remediation →
57/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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
SolarWinds Web Help Desk was found to have a hardcoded cryptographic key that could allow the disclosure of sensitive information from the software.

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

SolarWinds Web Help Desk contains a hardcoded cryptographic key embedded in the software code. This static key could allow an authenticated attacker to decrypt sensitive data stored or transmitted by the application, potentially exposing user credentials, ticket data, or other confidential information.

MitigationReplace the hardcoded cryptographic key with a properly managed key from a secure key management solution (e.g., hardware security module, environment variable, or secrets vault) and rotate any keys that may have been exposed.

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
Web Help DeskApplication
Affected:< 12.8.5

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
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
None
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/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 the installed Web Help Desk version
    Access the SolarWinds Web Help Desk admin interface and navigate to Help > About, or check the version from the installer/upgrade files. Alternatively, review system documentation or software inventory records.
    Affected if The installed version is lower than 12.8.5 (e.g., 12.8.4, 12.7.x, etc.)
  2. Locate the hardcoded cryptographic key in application files
    Inspect the Web Help Desk installation directory, typically under the conf or config subfolders, for XML configuration files or Java property files containing a static encryption key. Search for patterns like 'key', 'encryptionKey', 'secretKey', or examine the whd.properties and related configuration files.
    Affected if A static, non-rotatable cryptographic key is found hardcoded in configuration files or embedded within the application JAR/code files
  3. Verify if sensitive data storage is in use
    Check if the application stores or processes user credentials, ticket attachments, or other confidential data in the database or file system. Review the data retention settings and database tables containing sensitive information.
    Affected if The application stores user credentials, customer ticket data, or other confidential information that could be decrypted using the hardcoded key

You are affected if SolarWinds Web Help Desk is installed at a version lower than 12.8.5 AND the application contains a hardcoded cryptographic key that could be used to decrypt stored sensitive data.

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 12.8.5 or later
Fixed in 12.8.5
Interim mitigation

Replace the hardcoded cryptographic key with a properly managed key from a secure key management solution (e.g., hardware security module, environment variable, or secrets vault) and rotate any keys that may have been exposed.

Recommended fix High confidence

12.8.5

  1. Back up the current Web Help Desk installation and database before proceeding
  2. Stop the Web Help Desk service
  3. Download Web Help Desk version 12.8.5 or later from the SolarWinds customer portal
  4. Install the upgrade following standard SolarWinds installation procedures
  5. Restart the Web Help Desk service
  6. Verify the installation was successful and the service is running properly

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

Fix this in Web Help Desk Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation6.0 h
  • Implementation12.0 h
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
30.0 hours of engineering $5,280
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $8,448.

Scan for this in your stack

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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-2024-28989 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