Privilege escalation in Solarwinds Serv-U
CVE-2025-40548
A missing validation process exists in Serv U when abused, could give a malicious actor with access to admin privileges the ability to execute code. This issue requires administrative privileges to abuse. On Windows deployments, the risk is scored as a medium because services frequently run under less-privileged service accounts by default.
Vulnerability class: Privilege Escalation
Published · last modified .
CVSS v3 metric
CVSS v3 base score 9.1 (Critical). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H.
EPSS exploit prediction
EPSS: 0.007 (51.2th percentile), scored .
Very low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days; routine patching cadence is appropriate. 51st percentile — 51.2% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.
EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.007 · newest: 0.007 · change: 0.000
Affected products
- Solarwinds Serv-U — versions SolarWinds Serv-U 15.5.2 and prior versions
Weakness classification (CWE)
References
- www.solarwinds.com/trust-center/security-advisories/CVE-2025-40548 (Patch, Vendor Advisory)
- documentation.solarwinds.com/en/success_center/servu/content/release_notes/serv… (Release Notes)
Frequently asked questions
- What is CVE-2025-40548?
- CVE-2025-40548 is a critical-severity vulnerability in Solarwinds Serv-U, classified under Improper Privilege Management. CVSS score: 9.1/10. Published 2025-11-18.
- How severe is CVE-2025-40548?
- Critical severity. CVSS v3 base score is 9.1 out of 10.