VulnerabilityPublished 9 Jun 2025

CVE-2025-36528: ManageEngine ADAudit Plus · SQL Injection

Affects ManageEngine ADAudit PlusSource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 8.3 High.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 17:16 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

8.3High

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

EPSS: 1.6% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 76% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.

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

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: Low
User Interaction: None
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: High
Integrity: High
Availability: Low

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Network: The vulnerable component is bound to the network stack and the set of possible attackers extends beyond the other options listed, up to and including the entire Internet. Such a vulnerability is often termed 'remotely exploitable' and can be thought of as an attack being exploitable at the protocol level one or more network hops away (e.g., across one or more routers).
Attack Complexity: Low: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
Privileges Required: Low: The attacker is authorized with (i.e., requires) privileges that provide basic user capabilities that could normally affect only settings and files owned by a user. Alternatively, an attacker with Low privileges may have the ability to cause an impact only to non-sensitive resources.
User Interaction: None: The vulnerable system can be exploited without any interaction from any user.
Scope: Unchanged: An exploited vulnerability can only affect resources managed by the same security authority. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are either the same, or both are managed by the same security authority.
Confidentiality: High: There is total loss of confidentiality, resulting in all resources within the impacted component being divulged to the attacker. Alternatively, access to only some restricted information is obtained, but the disclosed information presents a direct, serious impact.
Integrity: High: There is a total loss of integrity, or a complete loss of protection. For example, the attacker is able to modify any/all files protected by the impacted component. Alternatively, only some files can be modified, but malicious modification would present a direct, serious consequence to the impacted component.
Availability: Low: Performance is reduced or there are interruptions in resource availability. Even if repeated exploitation of the vulnerability is possible, the attacker does not have the ability to completely deny service to legitimate users. The resources in the impacted component are either partially available all of the time, or fully available only some of the time, but overall there is no direct, serious consequence to the impacted component.

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 9 Jun 2025
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 26 Oct 2026.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponised: Public exploit code exists in Metasploit or Exploit-DB, or CISA SSVC or the CVSS exploit maturity reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
ManageEngine ADAudit Plus	Affected =0	Fixed in–

AI-suggested

To mitigate CVE-2025-36528, European organizations should immediately upgrade ADAudit Plus to a patched version once released by Zoho Corporation. Until a patch is available, organizations should implement strict access controls to limit who can authenticate and access the Service Account Auditing reports feature, ideally restricting it to trusted administrators only. Employ network segmentation and firewall rules to limit exposure of the ADAudit Plus management interface to trusted networks and users. Enable and monitor detailed logging of all access to the auditing reports to detect anomalous or unauthorized activities. Conduct regular credential audits and enforce strong authentication mechanisms, such as multi-factor authentication, to reduce the risk of credential compromise. Additionally, organizations should review and harden database permissions to ensure the ADAudit Plus service account has the minimum necessary privileges, limiting potential damage from SQL injection exploitation. Security teams should prepare incident response plans specific to audit log integrity and confidentiality breaches. Finally, consider deploying Web Application Firewalls (WAFs) with custom rules to detect and block SQL injection attempts targeting ADAudit Plus interfaces as an interim protective measure.

Description

Zohocorp ManageEngine ADAudit Plus versions 8510 and prior are vulnerable to authenticated SQL injection in Service Account Auditing reports.

Impact

For European organizations, the impact of CVE-2025-36528 could be substantial. ADAudit Plus is commonly deployed in enterprises for Active Directory auditing, compliance reporting, and security monitoring. Successful exploitation could lead to unauthorized access to sensitive audit logs containing user activity, system changes, and security events, compromising confidentiality. Integrity of audit data could be undermined, allowing attackers to cover tracks or falsify logs, which is particularly damaging for organizations subject to strict regulatory requirements such as GDPR, NIS Directive, and other European data protection laws. Availability impact is limited but could disrupt auditing functions temporarily. The breach of audit data and potential manipulation of configurations could delay detection of insider threats or external intrusions, increasing risk exposure. Organizations in sectors with high compliance demands—such as finance, healthcare, government, and critical infrastructure—would be especially vulnerable. Additionally, the vulnerability requires authentication, so insider threats or compromised credentials could be leveraged to exploit this flaw, emphasizing the need for robust internal access controls and monitoring. The lack of known exploits in the wild provides a window for proactive mitigation, but the high CVSS score and critical nature of the data involved necessitate urgent attention.

CWE-89Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command ('SQL Injection') (opens in a new tab)
Base weaknessLikelihood of exploit: HighCWE Top 25 (2025): #2OWASP Top 10 A05:2025: Injection (opens in a new tab)
The product constructs all or part of an SQL command using externally-influenced input from an upstream component, but it does not neutralize or incorrectly neutralizes special elements that could modify the intended SQL command when it is sent to a downstream component. Without sufficient removal or quoting of SQL syntax in user-controllable inputs, the generated SQL query can cause those inputs to be interpreted as SQL instead of ordinary user data.
Architecture and Design · Libraries or Frameworks
Use a vetted library or framework that does not allow this weakness to occur or provides constructs that make this weakness easier to avoid.
Architecture and Design · Parameterization
If available, use structured mechanisms that automatically enforce the separation between data and code. These mechanisms may be able to provide the relevant quoting, encoding, and validation automatically, instead of relying on the developer to provide this capability at every point where output is generated.
Architecture and Design · Operation · Environment Hardening
Run your code using the lowest privileges that are required to accomplish the necessary tasks. If possible, create isolated accounts with limited privileges that are only used for a single task. That way, a successful attack will not immediately give the attacker access to the rest of the software or its environment.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
Query Parameterization (opens in a new tab)
Unvalidated Redirects and Forwards (opens in a new tab)
XML Security (opens in a new tab)
XML External Entity Prevention (opens in a new tab)
File Upload (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V5.3.4 (opens in a new tab)
V5.3.5 (opens in a new tab)
V1.5.1 (opens in a new tab)
Attack patterns
Command Line Execution through SQL Injection (opens in a new tab)
Object Relational Mapping Injection (opens in a new tab)
SQL Injection through SOAP Parameter Tampering (opens in a new tab)
Expanding Control over the Operating System from the Database (opens in a new tab)
SQL Injection (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

manageengine.com/products/active-directory-audit/cve-2025-36528.html (opens in a new tab)

Community reviews

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 9 Jul 2025, 11:57 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-89

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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