Security Resilience

CVE-2023-35785

Auth Bypass in Zohocorp Manageengine Assetexplorer ≤ 6.9

Published
28 August 2023
Modified
21 November 2024
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 8.1
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.024 84th percentile
Risk Priority 64 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-2023-35785 is a high-severity Improper Authentication (CWE-287) vulnerability in Zohocorp Manageengine Assetexplorer. Its CVSS base score is 8.1 (High).

Operationally, ranked in the top 16% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

Zoho ManageEngine Active Directory 360 versions 4315 and below, ADAudit Plus 7202 and below, ADManager Plus 7200 and below, Asset Explorer 6993 and below and 7xxx 7002 and below, Cloud Security Plus 4161 and below, Data Security Plus 6110 and…

more

below, Eventlog Analyzer 12301 and below, Exchange Reporter Plus 5709 and below, Log360 5315 and below, Log360 UEBA 4045 and below, M365 Manager Plus 4529 and below, M365 Security Plus 4529 and below, Recovery Manager Plus 6061 and below, ServiceDesk Plus 14204 and below and 143xx 14302 and below, ServiceDesk Plus MSP 14300 and below, SharePoint Manager Plus 4402 and below, and Support Center Plus 14300 and below are vulnerable to 2FA bypass via a few TOTP authenticators. Note: A valid pair of username and password is required to leverage this vulnerability.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2023-41904Same product: Zohocorp Manageengine Admanager Plus
CVE-2023-22964Same product: Zohocorp Manageengine Servicedesk Plus Msp
CVE-2025-1723Same product class: network monitoring / SIEM
CVE-2023-26601Same product: Zohocorp Manageengine Assetexplorer
CVE-2023-26600Same product: Zohocorp Manageengine Assetexplorer
CVE-2023-29443Same product: Zohocorp Manageengine Assetexplorer
CVE-2022-47966Same product: Zohocorp Manageengine Ad360
CVE-2024-27314Same product: Zohocorp Manageengine Servicedesk Plus
CVE-2024-41150Same product: Zohocorp Manageengine Servicedesk Plus
CVE-2023-34197Same product: Zohocorp Manageengine Servicedesk Plus

Affected Assets

zohocorp
manageengine ad360
4.3 · ≤ 4.3
zohocorp
manageengine adaudit plus
7.2 · ≤ 7.2
zohocorp
manageengine admanager plus
7.2 · ≤ 7.2
zohocorp
manageengine assetexplorer
6.9, 7.0 · ≤ 6.9
zohocorp
manageengine cloud security plus
4.1 · ≤ 4.1
zohocorp
manageengine datasecurity plus
6.1 · ≤ 6.1
zohocorp
manageengine eventlog analyzer
12.3.0 · ≤ 12.3.0
zohocorp
manageengine exchange reporter plus
5.7 · ≤ 5.7
zohocorp
manageengine log360
5.3 · ≤ 5.3
zohocorp
manageengine log360 ueba
4.0
+7 more product configuration(s) — see NVD for full list

Mitigating Controls

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.

addresses: CWE-287

Detects unauthorized successful logons resulting from improper authentication implementations.

addresses: CWE-287

Documented procedures ensure personnel are trained on authentication mechanisms, tangibly lowering the risk of improper authentication being exploited.

addresses: CWE-287

Security awareness training instructs users on secure authentication practices and avoiding credential compromise.

addresses: CWE-287

Training on authentication mechanisms and best practices decreases the occurrence of improper authentication.

addresses: CWE-287

Non-repudiation requires strong authentication mechanisms to irrefutably attribute performed actions to specific individuals or processes.

addresses: CWE-287

Session content review can reveal authentication bypasses or failures in session establishment.

addresses: CWE-287

Review of authentication-related audit records can detect improper authentication mechanisms or bypasses.

addresses: CWE-287

Assessments check authentication mechanisms for correct implementation and effectiveness, reducing successful authentication bypass attempts.

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.

blocks

Mandating segregated approval and oversight for non-human identities reduces the chance that weak or orphaned credentials can be exploited for unauthorized authentication.

blocks

A.5.17 directly mandates generation of non-guessable unique secrets, secure transmission, immediate change of defaults/temporary creds, strong password enforcement, no-reuse, and compromise response, which stops most improper-authentication exploits at source; the bounded remainder is non-password authentication methods and sufficiency-of-proof cases (e.g. IA-2/IA-5 enhancements) left to other controls.

blocks

Security requirements specified early and verified through testing drive the consistent implementation of authentication mechanisms, decreasing the likelihood that authentication steps are omitted or incorrectly applied.

blocks

A.8.26 explicitly requires identifying and addressing authentication-related requirements (including level of trust in identity via 8.5 and 5.17) as part of application development or acquisition, which prevents a slice of CWE-287 but leaves the dominant sufficiency-of-proof aspects (IA-2/IA-5) and many implementation defects untouched.

blocks

A.8.27 mandates security-by-design principles (least privilege, default-deny, never-trust/always-verify, MFA, end-to-end encryption of requests, distrust-external-input, secure session control, and explicit authentication/authorization in every layer), which directly stops most improper-authentication flaws from being exploitable; the bounded remainder is insufficient-proof cases that live only in the strength or correctness of the credential itself (IA-5/IA-2 territory).

blocks

A.8.5 directly mandates appropriate-strength authentication techniques, MFA for critical systems, protected log-on procedures, brute-force resistance, no cleartext passwords/transmission, and session controls that stop exploitation of insufficient proof of identity; the bounded remainder is cases where the chosen technique itself is flawed or insufficiently implemented (e.g. weak biometrics without fallback).

Hardening callouts derived

DISA STIG baselines are authored against specific weaknesses. Where this CVE cites a broad weakness class, the mapping is not asserted at that abstraction (owner ruling, 2026-09-25: grade only at Base and below), so no rule is shown here rather than a rule shown against the wrong grain.

  • No fine-grained STIG row for CWE-287, a class-level weakness. Rules are authored against its narrower children: CWE-295, CWE-306.

References