CVE-2026-28305
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 Serv-U is affected by an insecure direct object reference (IDOR) vulnerability that can lead to remote code execution as root. A domain account with admin privileges and read and write access to the home directory is required. The impact is lower in Windows deployments.
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 Serv-U contains an IDOR vulnerability allowing an authenticated domain admin with read/write access to the home directory to perform unauthorized actions leading to remote code execution as root. The vulnerability stems from improper validation of object references in the application, enabling privilege escalation beyond the granted permissions.
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< 2026.3CVSS 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
- High
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Changed
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/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 Serv-U installation and versionLocate Serv-U installation directory and check version file, or run 'serv-u -v' or check Windows Services/Unix init scripts for version infoAffected if Installed version is lower than 2026.3
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Confirm platform is Linux/UnixCheck OS type - run 'uname' on Unix/Linux or check System Information on WindowsAffected if Serv-U is running on Linux or Unix systems (higher severity - code executes as root)
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Check if domain users with admin privileges existReview Serv-U user administration panel or configuration files for domain user accounts with Administrator-level rightsAffected if Privileged domain user accounts with admin rights are configured in Serv-U
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Verify read/write home directory access is enabledInspect Serv-U user/group settings to determine if any admin users have read/write access permissions to home directoriesAffected if Admin users have read/write access to home directories configured
User is affected if running Serv-U version below 2026.3 with a privileged domain user having admin rights and read/write home directory access, especially on Linux/Unix platforms.
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 data2026.3
Restrict admin privileges and home directory access to minimum required personnel per least-privilege principle, and apply vendor patches when available. Network segmentation can limit exposure of the Serv-U service.
- Consultation6.0 h
- Implementation12.0 h
- Testing10.0 h
- Review / QA6.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $9,504.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2026-28305 — 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-2026-28305 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