Cyber Resilience

CVE-2020-11532

Zohocorp Manageengine Adaudit Plus ≤ 6.0.3

Public PoCHigh EPSS
Published
08 May 2020
Modified
21 November 2024
Patch / advisory
View advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 9.8
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.77 99.5th percentile
Risk Priority 97 floored blend · peak EPSS

CVSS and EPSS are reproduced from their sources (NVD, FIRST EPSS). Risk Priority is our own derived reading, not an NVD score.

Summary

CVE-2020-11532 is a critical-severity Initialization of a Resource with an Insecure Default (CWE-1188) vulnerability in Zohocorp Manageengine Adaudit Plus. Its CVSS base score is 9.8 (Critical).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Default Accounts (T1078.001); 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.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

Zoho ManageEngine DataSecurity Plus prior to 6.0.1 uses default admin credentials to communicate with a DataEngine Xnode server. This allows an attacker to bypass authentication for this server and execute all operations in the context of admin user.

CWE(s)
CWE-1188

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1078.001 Default Accounts Stealth
Adversaries may obtain and abuse credentials of a default account as a means of gaining Initial Access, Persistence, Privilege Escalation, or Defense Evasion.
attack.mitre.org →
T1078 Valid Accounts Stealth
Adversaries may obtain and abuse credentials of existing accounts as a means of gaining Initial Access, Persistence, Privilege Escalation, or Defense Evasion.
attack.mitre.org →
T1133 External Remote Services Persistence
Adversaries may leverage external-facing remote services to initially access and/or persist within a network.
attack.mitre.org →
T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Access
Adversaries may attempt to exploit a weakness in an Internet-facing host or system to initially access a network.
attack.mitre.org →
T1542.002 Component Firmware Stealth
Adversaries may modify component firmware to persist on systems.
attack.mitre.org →
T1556 Modify Authentication Process Defense Impairment
Adversaries may modify authentication mechanisms and processes to access user credentials or enable otherwise unwarranted access to accounts.
attack.mitre.org →
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2024-36036Same product: Zohocorp Manageengine Adaudit Plus
CVE-2024-36034Same product: Zohocorp Manageengine Adaudit Plus
CVE-2024-5586Same product: Zohocorp Manageengine Adaudit Plus
CVE-2023-48792Same product: Zohocorp Manageengine Adaudit Plus
CVE-2024-36518Same product: Zohocorp Manageengine Adaudit Plus
CVE-2024-36485Same product: Zohocorp Manageengine Adaudit Plus
CVE-2024-36515Same product: Zohocorp Manageengine Adaudit Plus
CVE-2025-41403Same product: Zohocorp Manageengine Adaudit Plus
CVE-2024-5487Same product: Zohocorp Manageengine Adaudit Plus
CVE-2023-49333Same product: Zohocorp Manageengine Adaudit Plus

Affected Assets

zohocorp
manageengine adaudit plus
≤ 6.0.3
zohocorp
manageengine datasecurity plus
≤ 6.0.1

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

—

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

—

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)
  • 11 hardening rules · 6 OS baselines
Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V14.3.2
  • V6.3.2
  • V11.3.1
  • V13.2.3

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.

CM-1 Policy and Procedures
addresses: CWE-1188

Requires documented secure initialization practices and avoidance of insecure defaults in configuration baselines.

CM-2 Baseline Configuration
addresses: CWE-1188

Reviewing and updating baseline when components are installed or upgraded prevents initialization with insecure defaults.

CM-7 Least Functionality
addresses: CWE-1188

Requiring explicit configuration to minimal functionality overrides insecure defaults that would otherwise enable excess capabilities.

PL-11 Baseline Tailoring
addresses: CWE-1188

Tailoring replaces or augments insecure default initializations with system-specific values and compensating controls before deployment.

PL-9 Central Management
addresses: CWE-1188

Central configuration overrides or replaces insecure default initializations that would otherwise be left unchanged on each system.

PM-30 Supply Chain Risk Management Strategy
addresses: CWE-1188

SCRM practices during acquisition and configuration management address insecure default initializations shipped by vendors.

RA-5 Vulnerability Monitoring and Scanning
addresses: CWE-1188

Scans detect resources initialized with insecure defaults that create exploitable conditions.

SA-16 Developer-provided Training
addresses: CWE-1188

Instruction on secure initialization of security controls prevents leaving resources with insecure defaults after installation.

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-01 full match
prevents

Hardened baselines and configuration management directly replace insecure defaults with secure settings.

PR.PS-06 mostly match
prevents

Secure development practices include designing products with secure defaults rather than insecure ones.

ID.RA-09 partial match
prevents

Pre-acquisition integrity checks can reject products known to ship with insecure defaults.

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.8.9 Configuration management mostly match
prevents

Mandating secure baseline templates and immediate replacement of vendor defaults directly stops systems from being deployed with insecure factory settings that attackers can exploit.

A.8.32 Change management partial match
prevents

Requiring documented specification, testing, and acceptance of changes ensures that new or modified components are not initialized with insecure default settings that would otherwise be left in production.

Hardening callouts derived

Configuration rules from DISA STIG baselines that bear on weaknesses of the type cited by this CVE. Each rule is shown with the relationship its mapping actually records, against the CWE it was authored against. Derived via CVE→CWE over `controls_xwalks` (authoritative rows only; rows rated `none` are excluded).

Oracle Linux 8 (1 rule)
  • V-248823 OL 8 must not have the telnet-server package installed. prevents CWE-1188
RHEL 7 (1 rule)
  • V-204627 SNMP community strings on the Red Hat Enterprise Linux operating system must be changed from the default. prevents CWE-1188
Ubuntu 22.04 (1 rule)
  • V-260529 Ubuntu 22.04 LTS must be configured so that remote X connections are disabled, unless to fulfill documented and validated mission requirements. prevents CWE-1188
Ubuntu 24.04 (1 rule)
  • V-270708 Ubuntu 24.04 LTS must be configured so that remote X connections are disabled, unless to fulfill documented and validated mission requirements. prevents CWE-1188
Windows Server 2016 (1 rule)
  • V-224972 Active Directory Group Policy objects must have proper access control permissions. prevents CWE-1188
Windows Server 2019 (1 rule)
  • V-205741 Windows Server 2019 Active Directory Group Policy objects must have proper access control permissions. prevents CWE-1188

References