CVE-2025-40541: SolarWinds Serv-U · Incorrect Type Conversion or Cast
Affects SolarWinds Serv-USource CVE Database V5
Not known to be exploited · CVSS 9.1 Critical.
Data as of 29 Oct 2026, 19:04 UTC
Contested
Critical score, yet low EPSS after six months- EPSS
- 0.5% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 48% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:HExploitation evidence
Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 24 Feb 2026
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponized: 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 29 Oct 2026.
What to do
Affected software
| Product | Affected | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
| SolarWindsServ-U | Affected
| Fixed in– |
AI-suggested
- Immediately restrict administrative access to SolarWinds Serv-U servers to only trusted personnel and enforce strong authentication mechanisms such as multi-factor authentication (MFA).
- Run Serv-U services under the least privileged accounts possible, avoiding administrative or SYSTEM-level privileges to limit the impact of exploitation.
- Monitor logs and network traffic for unusual activity indicative of privilege escalation or code execution attempts on Serv-U servers.
- Implement network segmentation to isolate Serv-U servers from critical infrastructure and sensitive data repositories.
- Apply strict access controls on file transfer directories and audit all access to prevent unauthorized manipulation.
- Stay alert for official patches or updates from SolarWinds and plan immediate deployment once available.
- Conduct regular security assessments and penetration testing focusing on privilege escalation vectors within Serv-U deployments.
- Educate administrators about the risks of this vulnerability and the importance of minimizing administrative exposure.
- Consider deploying host-based intrusion detection/prevention systems (HIDS/HIPS) to detect suspicious behavior on Serv-U hosts.
- Maintain an incident response plan that includes scenarios involving Serv-U compromise to ensure rapid containment and recovery.
Description
An Insecure Direct Object Reference (IDOR) vulnerability exists in Serv-U, which when exploited, gives a malicious actor the ability to execute native code as a privileged account. 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.