CVE-2025-40536
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 security control bypass vulnerability that if exploited, could allow an unauthenticated attacker to gain access to certain restricted functionality.
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 confidenceSolarWinds Web Help Desk contains a security control bypass vulnerability that allows unauthenticated attackers to access certain restricted functionality. The vulnerability is exploitable remotely without any credentials and grants access to protected system features.
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< 2026.1CVSS 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
- 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 installed SolarWinds Web Help Desk versionCheck the product version through the application interface (Help > About) or check installation directories for version manifest filesAffected if The installed version is lower than 2026.1
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Confirm product is network accessibleVerify if the Web Help Desk server is exposed to network accessible interfaces or check firewall/network configurationAffected if The product is accessible from untrusted networks without additional access controls
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Check for unauthorized administrative accessReview Web Help Desk admin logs for successful authentications from unfamiliar IP addresses or unusual administrative actionsAffected if Unexpected administrative sessions appear in logs without corresponding legitimate login records
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Verify authentication mechanism statusInspect the authentication configuration in Web Help Desk admin panel to confirm security settings are properly enforcedAffected if Authentication settings appear modified or bypassed
You are affected if SolarWinds Web Help Desk is installed and the version is below 2026.1, as the authentication bypass vulnerability can be exploited remotely without credentials.
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.
dbcve · scoped2026.1
Apply the vendor-supplied patch or update to SolarWinds Web Help Desk immediately. If a patch is unavailable, implement network segmentation to restrict access to the help desk interface and review authentication mechanisms.
2026.1
- Upgrade SolarWinds Web Help Desk to version 2026.1 or later
- Verify the upgrade was successful by checking the product version in the administration interface
- Confirm that the security control bypass vulnerability is mitigated by testing access to restricted functionality
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,800.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2025-40536 — 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-2025-40536 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
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data