SolarWinds has issued patches to address a new security flaw in its Web Help Desk (WHD) software that could allow remote unauthenticated users to gain unauthorized access to susceptible instances.
"The SolarWinds Web Help Desk (WHD) software is affected by a hardcoded credential vulnerability, allowing [a] remote unauthenticated user to access internal functionality and modify data," the company said in a new advisory released today.
The issue, tracked as CVE-2024-28987, is rated 9.1 on the CVSS scoring system, indicating critical severity. Horizon3.ai security researcher Zach Hanley has been credited with discovering and reporting the flaw.
Users are recommended to update to version 12.8.3 Hotfix 2, but applying the fix requires Web Help Desk 12.8.3.1813 or 12.8.3 HF1.
The disclosure comes a week after SolarWinds moved to resolve another critical vulnerability in the same software that could be exploited to execute arbitrary code (CVE-2024-28986, CVSS score: 9.8).
The flaw has since come under active exploitation in the wild, per the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), although how it's being abused in real-world attacks remains unknown as yet.
Additional details about CVE-2024-28987 are expected to be released next month, making it crucial that the updates are installed in a timely manner to mitigate potential threats.
Update
Horizon3.ai has shared about CVE-2024-28987, which "allows unauthenticated attackers to remotely read and modify all help desk ticket details – often containing sensitive information like passwords from reset requests and shared service account credentials."
About 827 instances of SolarWinds Web Help Desk are reachable on the internet, with a majority of the instances located in the U.S., France, Canada, China, and India.
"When assessing the exposure of our own clients, we found that organizations typically revealed sensitive process information for IT procedures such as user onboarding, password resets, and accessing shared resources," Zach Hanley said.
"While this vulnerability does not lead to fully compromising the WHD server itself, we found the risk of lateral movement via credentials was high."
