Zoho ManageEngine ADSelfService Plus up to 5.7 Employee Search Feature cross site scripting

HistoryDiffrelatejsonxmlCTI

CVSS Meta Temp Score CVSS is a standardized scoring system to determine possibilities of attacks. The Temp Score considers temporal factors like disclosure, exploit and countermeasures. The unique Meta Score calculates the average score of different sources to provide a normalized scoring system.	Current Exploit Price (≈) Our analysts are monitoring exploit markets and are in contact with vulnerability brokers. The range indicates the observed or calculated exploit price to be seen on exploit markets. A good indicator to understand the monetary effort required for and the popularity of an attack.	CTI Interest Score Our Cyber Threat Intelligence team is monitoring different web sites, mailing lists, exploit markets and social media networks. The CTI Interest Score identifies the interest of attackers and the security community for this specific vulnerability in real-time. A high score indicates an elevated risk to be targeted for this vulnerability.
5.0	$0-$5k	0.00

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability marked as problematic has been reported in Zoho ManageEngine ADSelfService Plus up to 5.7. This affects an unknown function of the component Employee Search Feature. Performing a manipulation results in cross site scripting. This vulnerability was named CVE-2018-20485. The attack may be initiated remotely. In addition, an exploit is available. It is suggested to upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability, which was classified as problematic, was found in Zoho ManageEngine ADSelfService Plus up to 5.7. This affects an unknown code of the component Employee Search Feature. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a cross site scripting vulnerability. CWE is classifying the issue as CWE-79. The product does not neutralize or incorrectly neutralizes user-controllable input before it is placed in output that is used as a web page that is served to other users. This is going to have an impact on integrity. The summary by CVE is:

Zoho ManageEngine ADSelfService Plus 5.7 before build 5702 has XSS in the employee search feature.

The bug was discovered 12/10/2018. The weakness was presented 12/26/2018 (Website). The advisory is shared at manageengine.com. This vulnerability is uniquely identified as CVE-2018-20485 since 12/26/2018. It is possible to initiate the attack remotely. No form of authentication is needed for exploitation. It demands that the victim is doing some kind of user interaction. Technical details are unknown but a public exploit is available. MITRE ATT&CK project uses the attack technique T1059.007 for this issue.

The exploit is shared for download at exploit-db.com. It is declared as proof-of-concept. The vulnerability was handled as a non-public zero-day exploit for at least 16 days. During that time the estimated underground price was around $0-$5k. The commercial vulnerability scanner Qualys is able to test this issue with plugin 371391 (Zoho ManageEngine ADSelfService Plus Cross Site Scripting (XSS) Vulnerability).

Upgrading to version 5.7 Build 5702 eliminates this vulnerability.

The vulnerability is also documented in the vulnerability database at Exploit-DB (46815). See VDB-128432 and VDB-132037 for similar entries. Several companies clearly confirm that VulDB is the primary source for best vulnerability data.

Productinfo

Vendor

Zoho ManageEngine

Name

ADSelfService Plus

Version

License

commercial

Website

Vendor: https://www.manageengine.com/

CPE 2.3info

CPE 2.2info

CVSSv4info

VulDB Vector: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CVSSv3info

VulDB Meta Base Score: 5.2
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 5.0

VulDB Base Score: 4.3
VulDB Temp Score: 3.9
VulDB Vector: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

NVD Base Score: 6.1
NVD Vector: 🔍

CVSSv2info

AV	AC	Au	C	I	A
💳	💳	💳	💳	💳	💳
💳	💳	💳	💳	💳	💳
💳	💳	💳	💳	💳	💳

Vector	Complexity	Authentication	Confidentiality	Integrity	Availability
Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock
Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock
Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock

VulDB Base Score: 🔍
VulDB Temp Score: 🔍
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

NVD Base Score: 🔍

Exploitinginfo

Class: Cross site scripting
CWE: CWE-79 / CWE-94 / CWE-74
CAPEC: 🔍
ATT&CK: 🔍

Physical: No
Local: No
Remote: Yes

Availability: 🔍
Access: Public
Status: Proof-of-Concept
Download: 🔍

EPSS Score: 🔍
EPSS Percentile: 🔍

Price Prediction: 🔍
Current Price Estimation: 🔍

0-Day	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock
Today	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock	Unlock

Qualys ID: 🔍
Qualys Name: 🔍

Exploit-DB: 🔍

Threat Intelligenceinfo

Interest: 🔍
Active Actors: 🔍
Active APT Groups: 🔍

Countermeasuresinfo

Recommended: Upgrade
Status: 🔍

0-Day Time: 🔍

Upgrade: ADSelfService Plus 5.7 Build 5702

Timelineinfo

12/10/2018 🔍
12/26/2018 +16 days 🔍
12/26/2018 +0 days 🔍
12/26/2018 +0 days 🔍
12/26/2018 +0 days 🔍
08/31/2025 +2440 days 🔍

Sourcesinfo

Vendor: manageengine.com

Advisory: 152793
Status: Confirmed

CVE: CVE-2018-20485 (🔍)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2018-20485
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-128433
scip Labs: https://www.scip.ch/en/?labs.20161013
See also: 🔍

Entryinfo

Created: 12/26/2018 21:52
Updated: 08/31/2025 20:54
Changes: 12/26/2018 21:52 (61), 04/24/2020 12:48 (1), 06/22/2023 08:55 (4), 08/31/2025 20:54 (23)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216::103

Several companies clearly confirm that VulDB is the primary source for best vulnerability data.