CVE-2021-40539

Exploitation

Exploited in the wild. Listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on 2021-11-03. Federal remediation due 2021-11-17.

SSVC decision

• ExploitationactiveCISA reports credible evidence of active exploitation.
• AutomatableyesAn attacker can reliably automate reconnaissance through exploitation, so this scales.
• Technical ImpacttotalSuccessful exploitation gives total control of the vulnerable component.

CISA publishes the decision points, not a final SSVC decision. The decision also depends on mission and well-being impact, which is a property of your deployment rather than of the vulnerability.

EPSS probability

98.96% probability of exploitation activity in the next 30 days.

EPSS percentile

Ranks above 99.9% of scored records. A rank, not a probability.

NVD base score

9.8 (CVSS v3.x), scored by the NVD independently of the CNA.

NVD CVSS vector

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

NVD analysis status

Analyzed. NVD last modified this record on 2026-06-17.

Red Hat severity

No Red Hat rating. Red Hat rates the CVEs that affect its products.

Exploit-prediction scores from FIRST. Independent scoring and analysis status from the NVD. Vendor severity from Red Hat. Exploitation assessment and catalog membership from CISA.

Published

2021-09-07 16:06Z4 YR AGO

Last updated

2025-10-21 23:25Z10 MO AGO

Reserved

2021-09-06

Assigning CNA

mitre

Record state

PUBLISHED

Severity

Critical (CVSS 9.8)

CNA CVSS vector

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

Weaknesses

• CWE-706Use of Incorrectly-Resolved Name or ReferenceClass

Data version

5.1

Document digest

16d17311e78be06584d1f822d7438f900abc7f3a42be9194ca2121655054ab20

• www.manageengine.comhttps://www.manageengine.comx_refsource_MISC
• www.manageengine.comhttps://www.manageengine.com/products/self-service-password/kb/how-to-fix-authentication-bypass-vulnerability-in-REST-API.htmlx_refsource_MISC
• packetstormsecurity.comhttp://packetstormsecurity.com/files/165085/ManageEngine-ADSelfService-Plus-Authentication-Bypass-Code-Execution.htmlx_refsource_MISC
• www.cisa.govhttps://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2021-40539government-resource