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Full vulnerability report · 2020
CVE-2020-10189High confidence

Zoho ManageEngine Desktop Central File Upload Vulnerability

Zoho · ManageEngine

9.8CriticalCVSS 3.1
Recommended action
Protect now

CISA confirms exploitation in the wild and lists 2022-05-03 as the remediation due date.

Fix not verified
R
Operational reassessment

Published severity in operational context

Open reassessment dashboard →
Published severityCriticalOperational priority:Critical, unchanged from published severity.unchanged

Evidence used

  • CISA confirms exploitation in the wild.
  • A structured source references public exploit or proof-of-concept material.
  • The selected CVSS metric records a network-reachable, unauthenticated path with no user interaction.
  • EPSS is 99.94% for the current model date.

Compensating controls

  • Restrict the affected network interface to trusted sources where business-safe.
  • Increase monitoring for the attack path and post-exploitation behaviour described in the report.

Verification

  1. Confirm that the asset runs Zoho ManageEngine and falls inside the recorded affected range.
  2. Recheck the vendor advisory before scheduling a change because no verified fixed version is currently retained.
  3. Validate exposure, authentication requirements and compensating controls in the actual environment.
  4. Reopen this reassessment when CVSS, KEV, EPSS, exploit evidence or remediation changes.
Mitigation target: Within 3 daysRemediation target: Within 90 days

This automated reassessment organises public evidence. It does not know asset exposure, business impact or control effectiveness and does not replace CVSS or a human risk decision.

Optional official sources

National CERT insights
?CERT means Computer Emergency Response Team; CSIRT is the closely related term Computer Security Incident Response Team.

Choose official national sources for this report. Each advisory shows its original language. Your selection is remembered on this device and included in shared links.

Official European source

ENISA European Vulnerability Database

Official EUVD identifiers, advisory evidence and known-exploited context. Missing fields are not treated as evidence of low risk.

1 current
ENISA EUVD identifier

EUVD-2020-2650

CISA KEV mirrored by ENISA

Zoho ManageEngine Desktop Central before 10.0.474 allows remote code execution because of deserialization of untrusted data in getChartImage in the FileStorage class. This is related to the CewolfServlet and MDMLogUploaderServlet servlets.

EUVD state
Present in the current official mapping
Known exploitation
Recorded by ENISA since 3 Nov 2021. Evidence sources: cisa_kev.
ENISA score
9.8 · CVSS 3.0
Advisory evidence
No linked advisory details stored yet
Recommended actionProtect now

CISA confirms exploitation in the wild and lists 2022-05-03 as the remediation due date.

Fix not verified
01

What, why and how

Zoho ManageEngine Desktop Central contains a file upload vulnerability that allows for unauthenticated remote code execution.

What

Zoho ManageEngine Desktop Central contains a file upload vulnerability that allows for unauthenticated remote code execution.

Why

Attacker-influenced serialised data is reconstructed as trusted objects, which can invoke dangerous application behaviour.

How

An attacker operating through a network path may attempt exploitation without authentication or user interaction. If successful, the issue may execute code or commands in the affected security context.

What

Zoho ManageEngine Desktop Central contains a file upload vulnerability that allows for unauthenticated remote code execution.

Why

Attacker-influenced serialised data is reconstructed as trusted objects, which can invoke dangerous application behaviour.

How

An attacker operating through a network path may attempt exploitation without authentication or user interaction. If successful, the issue may execute code or commands in the affected security context.

02

Exploit reality and attack path

CVSS severity, EPSS forecast probability, public exploit material and CISA-confirmed exploitation are separate signals.

Observed exploitation
?Confirmed exploitation and public exploit material are separate signals. Attacks can occur without public proof-of-concept or exploit code.
Confirmed in the wild

CISA added this CVE to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalogue on 2021-11-03.

Public PoC / exploit material
?Confirmed exploitation and public exploit material are separate signals. Attacks can occur without public proof-of-concept or exploit code.
Reference recorded

A structured CVE source labels at least one public reference as exploit material. BlackTree has not independently validated that it is safe, reliable or weaponised.

Likely attack path
a network path → Deserialization of Untrusted Data → execute code or commands in the affected security context
Attack surface
Network
Privileges required
None: unauthenticated exploitation is possible
User interaction
None
Attack complexity
Low: no specialised conditions are recorded
Security boundary
Unchanged: impact remains within the vulnerable component's security authority
Weakness
?CWE means Common Weakness Enumeration: a standard category for the underlying weakness.
CWE-502 ↗

CWE-502: Deserialization of Untrusted Data. The product deserializes untrusted data without sufficiently ensuring that the resulting data will be valid.

CVSS vector
?CVSS means Common Vulnerability Scoring System. The vector records the metric values used to calculate technical severity.
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Common Vulnerability Scoring System 3.1: the compact vector below is decoded into plain language.

AVNetworkAttack vector: The vulnerable component can be reached over a network.ACLowAttack complexity: No specialised conditions are required beyond attacker-controlled input.PRNonePrivileges required: The attacker does not need an account or existing privileges.UINoneUser interaction: No action by another user is required.SUnchangedScope: The security impact remains within the vulnerable component's authority.CHighConfidentiality impact: A successful attack can cause a major loss.IHighIntegrity impact: A successful attack can cause a major loss.AHighAvailability impact: A successful attack can cause a major loss.
Post-exploitation / living off the land
After compromise, an attacker may use built-in shells, scripting engines, scheduled tasks and native network utilities for discovery, persistence or movement. This is a plausible LoTL path, not evidence that it has occurred for every attack.
NetworkUnauthenticatedRemote code executionCWE-502CISA KEVPublic exploit reference
A

Official authority intelligence

Only matched European and national findings are included. Language selectors and unavailable sources are omitted.

ENISA EUVD · EUVD-2020-2650Known-exploited evidence recorded

Zoho ManageEngine Desktop Central before 10.0.474 allows remote code execution because of deserialization of untrusted data in getChartImage in the FileStorage class. This is related to the CewolfServlet and MDMLogUploaderServlet servlets.

Official EUVD record ↗
Canadian Centre for Cyber Security · English · AV20-062ManageEngine Desktop Central security advisory

On 7 March 2020 ManageEngine published a security update to address a vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2020-10189, affecting its Desktop Central endpoint management solution. An unauthenticated remote actor could exploit the vulnerability to execute arbitrary code. Note to Readers

Official advisory ↗
Cyber Security Agency of Singapore · English · CSA-SB-20200311Security Bulletin 11 Mar 2020

The Cyber Security Agency of Singapore included this CVE in its official Security Bulletin 11 Mar 2020, published on 11 March 2020. Open the linked bulletin for the product, severity and reference information published in that issue.

Official advisory ↗
JVN iPedia · Japanese · JVNDB-2020-002466Zoho ManageEngine Desktop Central における信頼性のないデータのデシリアライゼーションに関する脆弱性

Zoho ManageEngine Desktop Central には、信頼性のないデータのデシリアライゼーションに関する脆弱性が存在します。

Official advisory ↗
KISA KrCERT/CC · Korean · KNVD-5219해킹 공격에 악용되는 취약점 업데이트 권고

[12] 허가되지 않은 사용자가 특정 URL에접근 가능하여 발생하는 정보노출 취약점 Atlassian Confluence Server CVE-2019-3396 [13] Widget Connector macro에서 발생하는 경로탐색 및 원격코드실행 취약점 Crowd, Crowd Data Center CVE-2019-11580 [14] 임의 플러그인 설치를 허용하여 발생하는 원격코드실행 취약점 Pulse Secure Pulse Connect Secure (PCS) CVE-2019-11510 [15] 접근통제가 미흡하여 원격의 공격자가 임의 파일을 읽을 수 있는 취약점 BIG-IP Traffic Management UI CVE-2020-5902 [16] 접근통제가 미흡하여 발생하는 원격코드실행 취약점 MobileIron Core, Connector CVE-2020-15505 [17] 원격의 공격자가 임의 코드를 실행할 수 있는 원격코드실행 취약점 Exim 메일 서비스 CVE-2018-6789 [18] base64 decode 함수에서 발생하는 버퍼오버플로우 취약점 Adobe ColdFusion CVE-2018-4939 [19] 신뢰되지 않은 데이터를 역직렬화하여 발생하는 원격코드실행 취약점 Zoho ManageEngine Desktop Central CVE-2020-10189 [20] 신뢰되지 않은 데이터를 역직렬화하여 발생하는 원격코드실행 취약점 Progress Telerik Progress Telerik CVE-2019-18935 [21] 신뢰되지 않은 데이터를 역직렬화하여 발생하는 원격코드실행 취약점 Symantec Messaging Gateway CVE-2017-6327 [22] 원격의 공격자가 권한상승 후 원격코드실행이 가능한 취약점 Cisco IOS XR CVE-2020-3118 [23] CDP 메시지에 대한 검증이 미흡하여 발생하는 포맷 스트링 취약점 DrayTek Vigor2960 CVE-2020-8515 [24] 인증을 우회하여 원격코드실행이 가능한 취약점 ##### □ 영향받는 제품 및 해결 방안 o 아래 참고 사이트를 참고하여 최신 버전으로 업데이트 수행 ##### □ 기타 문의사항 o 한국인터넷진흥원 사이버민원센터: 국번없이 118 [참고사이트] [1] https://media.defense.gov/2020/Oct/20/2002519884/-1/-1/0/CSA_CHINESE_EXPLOIT_VULNERABILITIES_UOO179811.PDF [2] https://www.boho.or.kr/data/secNoticeView.do?bulletin_writing_sequence=35033 [3] ht

Official advisory ↗
03

Patch and workaround

Operational remediation based on structured source evidence.

Status
?Patch availability is based on structured fixed-version fields and authoritative update references. If no fix is verified, check the vendor advisory before making a change.
Fix not verified
Affected
n/a
Fixed
No fixed version is explicitly recorded in the structured CVE data.
Action
No verified patch reference is present in the current structured sources. Check the vendor advisory before making a change.
Workaround
No verified workaround is recorded. If business-safe, reduce exposure to the affected interface and allow only trusted sources until authoritative guidance is available.
04

Evidence and provenance

Published 6 Mar 2020 · Last source change 21 Oct 2025, 23:35 UTC · CWE-502 · Deserialization of Untrusted Data

CVE recordCVE.org · 5.1
CVSS sourceNIST NVD
EPSS source
?The date BlackTree first stored a score for this CVE from the daily FIRST EPSS feed.
FIRST · tracked since 2026-08-14
European sourceENISA EUVD · EUVD-2020-2650
Product sourceCISA KEV
Remediation sourceCVE/CNA references
CWE sourceCISA ADP
NVD statusNVD enriched

Core structured fields are present and their contributing authorities are shown above.

Material change intelligence

What changed after publication

View recent updates ↗
  1. Vendor guidanceAuthoritative vendor guidance changed: removed remediation: cyber.gc.ca/manageengine-desktop-central-security-advisory.
    Before
    remediation: cyber.gc.ca/manageengine-desktop-central-security-advisory · vendor advisory: manageengine.com/remote-code-execution-vulnerability.html
    After
    vendor advisory: manageengine.com/remote-code-execution-vulnerability.html
    manageengine.com ↗
  2. Remediation statusRemediation status changed from Mitigation available to Awaiting fix.
    Before
    Mitigation available
    After
    Awaiting fix
    manageengine.com ↗
  3. Affected versionsThe structured affected or fixed version information changed.
    Before
    n/a: n/a · Fixed: No fixed version is explicitly recorded in the structured CVE data.
    After
    n/a · Fixed: No fixed version is explicitly recorded in the structured CVE data.
    CISA KEV ↗
  4. Affected versionsThe structured affected or fixed version information changed.
    Before
    n/a · Fixed: No fixed version is explicitly recorded in the structured CVE data.
    After
    n/a: n/a · Fixed: No fixed version is explicitly recorded in the structured CVE data.
    CNA ↗
  5. Remediation statusRemediation status changed from Awaiting fix to Mitigation available.
    Before
    Awaiting fix
    After
    Mitigation available
    Canadian Centre for Cyber Security ↗
Material fields only · duplicate refreshes suppressed · history retained for the configured operational retention period
CVE published
Added to CISA KEV
ENISA EUVD · EUVD-2020-2650↗CISA KEV record↗Vendor advisory↗Public exploit reference↗Public exploit reference↗Official CVE record (CNA and ADP data)↗NVD record↗
Technical terms and abbreviations used in this report
CVE
Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures: the public identifier for one disclosed vulnerability.
CVSS
Common Vulnerability Scoring System: a technical severity framework; it is not patching priority by itself.
EPSS
Exploit Prediction Scoring System: FIRST's estimate of the probability that exploitation activity will be observed in the next 30 days; it is a forecast, not confirmation.
CWE
Common Weakness Enumeration: the standard category describing the underlying software or hardware weakness.
CNA
CVE Numbering Authority: an organisation authorised to assign and publish CVE records.
CISA ADP
Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Authorized Data Publisher: structured enrichment added to a CVE record.
NVD
National Vulnerability Database: NIST's enrichment service for CVE records.
CERT / CSIRT
A computer security incident response team that publishes warnings or coordinates incident response.
PoC
Proof of concept: public material that demonstrates or helps reproduce exploitation.
CSAF
Common Security Advisory Framework: a machine-readable format for security advisories.
LoTL
Living off the land: abuse of legitimate tools or system functions during an attack.
Free version - for non-commercial use only.CVE-2020-10189 · cve.blacktree.nl