CVE-2025-40549: SolarWinds Serv-U Path Restriction Bypass Vulnerability

Severity: critical (CVSS 9.1 v3.1)
Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
EPSS: 1.1% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
Public exploit or detection template: none known
Published: 2025-11-18 · updated 2026-10-18
Weakness: CWE-22

Description

A Path Restriction Bypass vulnerability exists in Serv-U that when abused, could give a malicious actor with access to admin privileges the ability to execute code on a directory. This issue requires administrative privileges to abuse. On Windows systems, this scored as medium due to differences in how paths and home directories are handled.

Affected products

SolarWinds Serv-U: before 15.5.3 — fixed in 15.5.3

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: SolarWinds Serv-U 15.5.3. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

https://documentation.solarwinds.com/en/success_center/servu/content/release_notes/servu_15-5-3_release_notes.htm
https://www.solarwinds.com/trust-center/security-advisories/CVE-2025-40549

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