Cyber Resilience

CVE-2014-5301

Path Traversal in Manageengine Servicedesk Plus

Public PoCHigh EPSSPath Traversal
Published
28 August 2017
Modified
13 May 2026
CVSS Score v3 8.8
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.78 99.5th percentile
Risk Priority 87 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2014-5301 is a high-severity Path Traversal (CWE-22) vulnerability in Manageengine Servicedesk Plus. Its CVSS base score is 8.8 (High).

Operationally, ranked in the top 0.5% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

A01:2025 Broken Access Control

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

Directory traversal vulnerability in ServiceDesk Plus MSP v5 to v9.0 v9030; AssetExplorer v4 to v6.1; SupportCenter v5 to v7.9; IT360 v8 to v10.4.

CWE(s)
CWE-22

Related Threats

Likely ATT&CK TechniquesAI

Techniques this vulnerability likely enables, inferred from its description, weakness type, and attributed-actor tradecraft. Confidence is per-technique.

T1083 File and Directory Discovery Discoveryconfidence: HIGH
Directory traversal allows an attacker to enumerate and read arbitrary files on the local filesystem.
attack.mitre.org →
T1005 Data from Local System Collectionconfidence: HIGH
Directory traversal enables reading sensitive data files from the local system.
attack.mitre.org →
T1552.001 Credentials In Files Credential Accessconfidence: MEDIUM
Traversal can be used to access credential files stored on disk.
attack.mitre.org →
inferred from description + CWE · MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise v19.0

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2023-31449Same product class: network monitoring / SIEM
CVE-2025-67254Same product class: network monitoring / SIEM
CVE-2023-33227Same product class: network monitoring / SIEM
CVE-2024-28993Same product class: network monitoring / SIEM
CVE-2024-45709Same product class: network monitoring / SIEM
CVE-2024-5017Same product class: network monitoring / SIEM
CVE-2023-39912Same product class: network monitoring / SIEM
CVE-2025-9435Same product class: network monitoring / SIEM
CVE-2025-40549Same product class: network monitoring / SIEM
CVE-2023-47211Same product class: network monitoring / SIEM

Affected Assets

manageengine
servicedesk plus
all versions
manageengine
assetexplorer
all versions
manageengine
supportcenter
all versions
manageengine
it360
all versions

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

—

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

—

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)

—

Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V5.3.2

Likely Mitigating Controls AI

Per-CVE control mapping for this CVE has not run yet; the list below is derived from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry.

SI-10 Information Input Validation
addresses: CWE-22

Validates pathnames and filenames to prevent traversal outside intended directories.

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.PS-02 partial match
prevents

Patching/maintenance can remediate known path-traversal flaws in deployed software (partial prevention of exploitability) but does nothing to stop the coding defect from being introduced in the first place.

PR.AA-05 none match
prevents

PR.AA-05 defines and reviews access policies but does not address code-level pathname neutralization, so neither direction prevents CWE-22.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

A.8.29 Security testing in development and acceptance mostly match
detects

Security testing in development catches path traversal via static/dynamic analysis.

A.8.25 Secure development life cycle partial match
prevents

Secure SDLC mandates input validation and path sanitization that directly prevent path traversal.

A.8.26 Application security requirements partial match
prevents

Application security requirements include rules for safe file handling and canonicalization.

A.8.27 Secure system architecture and engineering principles partial match
prevents

Secure architecture principles require least-privilege file access and directory isolation.

A.8.28 Secure coding partial match
prevents

Secure coding standards explicitly forbid unsafe path construction and mandate safe APIs.

A.8.3 Information access restriction partial match
mitigates

Information access restriction limits which files an application may read or write.

References