Assessment
Why it matters
CISA lists this vulnerability as known to be exploited; exploitation is confirmed; EPSS is 99.9%; technical severity is CVSS 9.8.
Zoho ManageEngine Desktop Central is vulnerable to authentication bypass, leading to remote code execution on the server, as exploited in the wild in December 2021. For Enterprise builds 10.1.2127.17 and earlier, upgrade to 10.1.2127.18. For Enterprise builds 10.1.2128.0 through 10.1.2137.2, upgrade to 10.1.2137.3. For MSP builds 10.1.2127.17 and earlier, upgrade to 10.1.2127.18. For MSP builds 10.1.2128.0 through 10.1.2137.2, upgrade to 10.1.2137.3.
Who should care
- Teams operating Desktop Central, Manageengine Desktop Central
- Vulnerability and exposure management teams
- Security operations teams monitoring exploitation activity
Response plan
What I would do
- Confirm whether Desktop Central, Manageengine Desktop Central is present in the environment.
- Identify affected versions and establish whether vulnerable services are exposed or reachable.
- Apply updates per vendor instructions.
- Review relevant security telemetry for evidence of attempted or successful exploitation.
- Document the remediation decision and track it to verified completion.
Vendor remediation
Patch and remediation links
Use the vendor source below to confirm the correct fixed version, package or mitigation for your affected product.
Technical details
- CVSS vector
- CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
- CWE
- Not classified
- Affected versions
- Zoho Desktop Central; Zohocorp Manageengine Desktop Central (Start Including: 10.1.2128.0, End Excluding: 10.1.2137.3)
- Published
- 12 December 2021
- Attack vector
- Network
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- None
Signal timeline
- CVE published
- Added to CISA KEV
- Latest EPSS score: 99.9%
- Signal calculated at 85