Cyber Resilience

CVE-2024-45711

Path Traversal in Solarwinds Serv-U ≤ 15.5

Published
16 October 2024
Modified
17 October 2024
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 7.5
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.063 93th percentile
Risk Priority 65 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2024-45711 is a high-severity Path Traversal (CWE-22) vulnerability in Solarwinds Serv-U. Its CVSS base score is 7.5 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190); ranked in the top 7% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to AC-3 (Access Enforcement) and SI-10 (Information Input Validation) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary

Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.

SolarWinds Serv-U is affected by a directory traversal vulnerability, identified as CVE-2024-45711 and assigned CWE-22, that can permit remote code execution depending on the privileges assigned to an authenticated user. The flaw is triggered through abuse of software environment variables and carries a CVSS 3.1 score of 7.5 reflecting network attack vector, high complexity, low privileges required, and high impact across confidentiality, integrity, and availability.

An authenticated user can exploit the issue remotely, though the high attack complexity limits the conditions under which code execution or other unauthorized actions become possible.

The SolarWinds advisory published at https://www.solarwinds.com/trust-center/security-advisories/CVE-2024-45711 provides official guidance on the vulnerability. The associated EPSS score has remained flat at 0.1069 with no material rise observed since disclosure.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

SolarWinds Serv-U is vulnerable to a directory traversal vulnerability where remote code execution is possible depending on privileges given to the authenticated user. This issue requires a user to be authenticated and this is present when software environment variables are…

more

abused. Authentication is required for this vulnerability

CWE(s)

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

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.
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2025-40549Same product: Solarwinds Serv-U
CVE-2024-28073Same product: Solarwinds Serv-U
CVE-2024-28995Same product: Solarwinds Serv-U
CVE-2024-23472Same product class: network monitoring / SIEM
CVE-2023-35187Same product class: network monitoring / SIEM
CVE-2023-33227Same product class: network monitoring / SIEM
CVE-2024-45709Same product class: network monitoring / SIEM
CVE-2023-40055Same product class: network monitoring / SIEM
CVE-2024-23476Same product class: network monitoring / SIEM
CVE-2023-23842Same product class: network monitoring / SIEM

Affected Assets

solarwinds
serv-u
≤ 15.5

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

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

Enforces the intended directory access authorizations that path traversal would otherwise bypass.

Input validation directly neutralizes special path elements before pathname construction occurs.

Least privilege reduces the impact of any unauthorized file access obtained via traversal.

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.

finds

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

prevents

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

prevents

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

prevents

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

prevents

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

mitigates

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

References