Vulnerability report

Exploited in the wild Confirmed confidence In CISA KEV

CVE-2024-28986

Web Help Desk Deserialization

SolarWinds / Web Help Desk · 0 to <= 12.8.3

Watch CVE-2024-28986 Browse KEV feed
Severity
CVSS 9.8 · Critical
Confidence
Confirmed
Exploit status
Exploited in the wild
EPSS
84.6%
First observed
—
Last observed
—

Decision summary

What security teams need to know first

Direct answers before the deeper technical record.

What it is

CVE-2024-28986 is an unauthenticated vulnerability affecting SolarWinds Web Help Desk. SolarWinds Web Help Desk was found to be susceptible to a Java Deserialization Remote Code Execution vulnerability that, if...

Is it exploited?

Yes. Previdian tracks this CVE as a known exploited vulnerability. Confidence is confirmed. Listed in CISA KEV.

Who is affected?

SolarWinds / Web Help Desk 0 to <= 12.8.3.

What should we do?

Prioritize remediation. Validate affected assets and apply vendor fixes on an accelerated timeline.

Overview

Web Help Desk Deserialization

SolarWinds Web Help Desk was found to be susceptible to a Java Deserialization Remote Code Execution vulnerability that, if exploited, would allow an attacker to run commands on the host machine.

While it was reported as an unauthenticated vulnerability, SolarWinds has been unable to reproduce it without authentication after thorough testing.  

However, out of an abundance of caution, we recommend all Web Help Desk customers apply the patch, which is now available.

solarwinds Affected
webhelpdesk
Through 12.8.3
SolarWinds Affected
Web Help Desk
Through 12.8.3
Published
13 Aug 2024
Exploitation Reported
15 Aug 2024
Attack vector
Remote
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None

Tags

windows java nuclei_scanner cisa nessus_scanner

CVE References

Exploitation evidence

Why Previdian marks this CVE as exploited

Third-party attestation and first-party sensor observation are shown separately so teams can judge the evidence chain.

Exploited in the wild

CISA

Recorded 15 Aug 2024

A trusted third party reported exploitation.

Proof of concept available

Nuclei Templates

Recorded 12 Jun 2026

Public scanner or PoC coverage increases practical exploitability.

Known exploited vulnerability sources

Per-source evidence links for KEV attestations are available through the Previdian Pro API.

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Source Added
CISA First 2024-08-15 00:00 UTC

Detection

Operational artifacts and observed signals

Make the evidence actionable in scanner, SOC, and edge-control workflows.

Observed signals

Request targets
User-Agents
Callback hosts
0
0
0

Request targets and User-Agents available in Pro. Callback host details available in Enterprise.

Virtual patch status

No Previdian virtual patch is currently available. Future rules ship for ModSecurity, Cloudflare, and AWS WAF.

Learn about virtual patches →

Scanner Artifacts

Scanner and exploit-framework references linked to this CVE.

Scanner Reference Detected
Nuclei https://github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei-templates/blob/main/http/cves/2024/CVE-2024-28986.yaml 01 Jun 2026
Nessus https://www.tenable.com/plugins/nessus/205618 02 Jun 2025

Risk and context

Severity, weaknesses, and research context

CVSS v3.1

9.8 Critical

Potential damage if exploited. Separate from whether attackers are using it.

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

EPSS

84.6%

Estimated chance of exploitation in the next 30 days. Previdian's warning comes from evidence, not this score.

Weaknesses

Deserialization of Untrusted Data CWE-502

Potential Proof of Concepts

These PoCs are unverified and could contain malware. Use at your own risk.

SolarWinds Web Help Desk < 12.8.3 - Insecure Deserialization

nuclei · Created Unknown

Timeline

From disclosure to observed exploitation

  1. 14:21 UTC

    Public PoC available

    Public proof-of-concept code published

  2. 15:34 UTC

    Nuclei template available

    Scanner coverage available

  3. 09:26 UTC

    Nessus plugin available

    Scanner coverage available

  4. 00:00 UTC

    Added to CISA KEV

    Listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog

  5. 22:06 UTC

    CVE published

    Vulnerability disclosed publicly

  6. 20:27 UTC

    CVE ID reserved

    Identifier reserved by the CNA

Pro API

Automate this intelligence

Confidence, exploit status, sensor telemetry, PoCs, scanner integrations, mentions, and tags are available programmatically for VM, SOC, and CTI workflows.

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  • Evidence confidence and provenance
  • First-party sensor telemetry
  • PoC and scanner references
  • Affected versions and enrichment
  • Automation-ready JSON delivery

GET /api/v2/pro/kevs/CVE-2024-28986

Free JSON includes basic KEV fields 
{
  "cve_id": "CVE-2024-28986",
  "confidence": "Confirmed",
  "cvss_score": 9.8,
  "cvss_estimated": false,
  "epss_score": 0.84628,
  "exploit_status": {
    "exploited_in_the_wild": true,
    "active_exploitation_observed": false
  },
  "sensor_telemetry": { "attempts": 0, "sensors": 0 }
}