Detect SolarWinds Web Help Desk Security Control Bypass (CVE-2025-40536) in CrowdStrike LogScale
Detects exploitation of CVE-2025-40536, a security control bypass vulnerability (CWE-693) in SolarWinds Web Help Desk. This vulnerability is actively exploited in the wild (CISA KEV) and allows attackers to bypass authentication or authorization controls within the Web Help Desk application. Successful exploitation may enable unauthorized access to ticketing data, credential stores, or administrative functions.
MITRE ATT&CK
LogScale Detection Query
#repo=base_activity
NetworkConnect
| filter RemotePort in (80, 443, 8080, 8443)
| filter ImageFileName matches "(?i)java|tomcat|whd|helpdesk"
| join kind=inner (
HttpRequest
| filter Url matches "(?i)/helpdesk/|/WebHelpDesk/|/whd/"
| filter HttpMethod in ("PUT", "DELETE", "PATCH")
or Url matches "(?i)bypass|admin|config|setup|security|%2e%2e|\.\./"
| filter HttpStatusCode >= 200 and HttpStatusCode < 300
) on aid, ContextProcessId
| project timestamp, aid, UserName, RemoteAddressIP4, Url, HttpMethod, HttpStatusCode, ImageFileName, CommandLine
| sort timestamp descCrowdStrike CQL query correlating network connections from Java/Tomcat processes hosting SolarWinds Web Help Desk with suspicious HTTP request patterns, helping identify potential bypass exploitation on the endpoint itself.
Data Sources
Required Tables
False Positives & Tuning
- Legitimate WHD administrative sessions by IT staff from known workstations
- Authorized API integrations running on managed endpoints that use non-standard HTTP methods
- Security tooling or scanners running on monitored endpoints performing WHD assessments
- Java-based automation tools that legitimately interact with WHD REST endpoints
Other platforms for CVE-2025-40536
Testing Methodology
Validate this detection against 3 adversary techniques from Atomic Red Team. Each test below lists the behaviour to exercise and the telemetry you should expect to see. Executable commands and cleanup steps are available with Pro.
- Test 1Unauthenticated Access to WHD Admin Endpoint
Expected signal: HTTP request to WHD ticket creation endpoint without session cookie; response code 200 or redirect to a normally-protected resource instead of 401/403
- Test 2HTTP Method Bypass Probe Against WHD API
Expected signal: HTTP PUT request to WHD REST API ticket endpoint without valid session; response code 200 or 204 indicating the operation succeeded without authentication
- Test 3Path Traversal Bypass Attempt on WHD Configuration Endpoint
Expected signal: HTTP GET request containing path traversal sequence /../ targeting WHD admin path; 200 response code indicating bypass of path-level access control
References (4)
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