CVE-2021-44515Zoho ManageEngine Desktop Central is vulnerable to authentication bypass, leading to remote code execution on the server, as exploited in…
- 9.8CriticalCVSS base score
- 99.9%Exploitation in 30 daysEPSS · top 0.1% of all CVEs
- YesKnown exploitedin CISA's KEV since 10 Dec 2021
- 1Public exploitsMetasploit, Nuclei and Exploit-DB
Description
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.
Exploited in the wild
CISA lists this vulnerability in its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog as Zoho Desktop Central Authentication Bypass Vulnerability.
- Added
- 10 Dec 2021
- Fix due (US federal)
- 24 Dec 2021
- Used by ransomware
- Not known
Apply updates per vendor instructions.
ENISA's EU Vulnerability Database lists it as exploited, from CISA's KEV, since 10 Dec 2021.
Public exploit
An exploit or proof of concept is public: anyone can try it against an unpatched system. The public collections list a Nuclei template for it. CISA's SSVC rates its exploitation: it is being exploited.
Show the exploits1
Nuclei templates1 template
- Zoho ManageEngine Desktop Central - Remote Code Execution (Nuclei template) (opens in a new tab)
http/cves/2021/CVE-2021-44515.yamlSeverity critical
Modules, templates and exploits as listed by the Metasploit Framework (BSD-3-Clause), ProjectDiscovery's Nuclei templates (MIT) and the Exploit Database (GPLv2), read once a day. Where the data comes from
Timeline
ID reserved
By mitre
- 9 days later
· 9 days later
Added to CISA KEV
Known exploited in the wild
- 2 days later
· 2 days later
Published
- 4 years later
· 4 years later
Record updated
Changes after publication (a new score, a public exploit, EPSS crossing 1, 10 or 50 %, leaving KEV) are kept since November 2026; earlier ones are not known.
Scores
| Scored by | CVSS | Score | Vector |
|---|---|---|---|
| CISA-ADPADP (enrichment) | 3.1 | Critical9.8 | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H |
| NVDNVD · Analyzed | 3.1 | Critical9.8 | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H |
- EPSS (exploitation in 30 days)
- 99.9% · top 0.1% of all CVEs (14 Nov 2026)
- CISA SSVC
- Exploitation: active · Automatable: yes · Technical impact: total
The list uses the assigner's score when there is one, then CISA's, then NVD's: Critical 9.8.
Affected products
n/a
- affected n/a
References
References4
- https://pitstop.manageengine.com/portal/en/community/topic/an-authentication-bypass-vulnerability-identified-and-fixed-in-desktop-central-and-desktop-central-msp (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_CONFIRMx_transferred
- https://www.manageengine.com/products/desktop-central/cve-2021-44515-authentication-bypass-filter-configuration.html (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_CONFIRMx_transferred
- https://www.cisa.gov/uscert/ncas/current-activity/2021/12/10/cisa-adds-thirteen-known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_MISCx_transferred
- https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2021-44515 (opens in a new tab)government-resource
Sources
The same CVE in the primary databases and aggregators, to check against.
- CVE.org record (opens in a new tab)
- CVE List JSON (GitHub) (opens in a new tab)
- NVD (opens in a new tab)
- CISA KEV catalog (opens in a new tab)
- FIRST EPSS (opens in a new tab)
- EUVD EUVD-2021-31348 (opens in a new tab)
- OSV.dev (opens in a new tab)
- GitHub Advisories (opens in a new tab)
- CIRCL Vulnerability-Lookup (opens in a new tab)
Badge for a README or a ticket
[](https://cveledger.app/cve/CVE-2021-44515)Record last updated .