CVE intelligence and bounded remediation

CVE-2020-10148 — SolarWinds Orion Authentication Bypass Vulnerability

Critical CVSS 9.8 CISA KEV

The SolarWinds Orion API is vulnerable to an authentication bypass that could allow a remote attacker to execute API commands. This vulnerability could allow a remote attacker to bypass authentication and execute API commands which may result in a compromise of the SolarWinds instance. SolarWinds Orion Platform versions 2019.4 HF 5, 2020.2 with no hotfix installed, and 2020.2 HF 1 are affected.

Severity
Critical
CVSS
9.8 (3.1)
Published
2020-12-29
CISA KEV
Known exploited
Ecosystem
software/application
Weaknesses
CWE-288, CWE-306

Affected products

  • solarwinds / orion_platform / 2019.4
  • solarwinds / orion_platform / 2020.2
  • solarwinds / orion_platform / 2020.2.1

Matched remediation archetype

Authentication bypass and missing authentication

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Check exposure

  • Map every affected endpoint and protocol path, including alternate ports, legacy routes, recovery flows, service accounts, and machine-to-machine access.
  • Confirm which deployments enable the affected authentication mode and whether the interface is reachable from untrusted networks.
  • Review session, token, credential, and proxy trust configuration without attempting account takeover.

Remediate safely

  • Apply the supported fix and centralize fail-closed authentication before protected request handling.
  • Remove default or embedded credentials, rotate affected secrets and sessions, and bind authentication decisions to the intended audience and channel.
  • Add negative tests for alternate routes, malformed or absent credentials, recovery flows, and proxy-derived identity.

Authoritative sources

Complete CVE record and remediation plan

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