Affects widely used Serv-U and enables admin creation and code execution; high risk to IT operations.
CVE-2025-40538
Broken access control in Serv-U enables creation of a system admin and code execution.
Is CVE-2025-40538 being exploited?
Not confirmed. CVE-2025-40538 does not appear in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, which records only exploitation that has been observed and reported publicly. That is evidence of absence of a report, not evidence the flaw is unattacked. EPSS currently estimates a 0.50% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.
How severe is CVE-2025-40538?
CVE-2025-40538 is rated Critical with a CVSS score of 9.1. Severity describes how bad exploitation would be, not how likely it is: pair it with exploitation evidence before deciding what to patch first.
Is there a patch for CVE-2025-40538?
Yes. A fix has been recorded for CVE-2025-40538. The vendor advisory is the authority on the exact fixed version — apply it from there rather than from a summary.
What does CVE-2025-40538 affect?
CVE-2025-40538 affects Serv-U File Transfer Server (Ipswitch). Confirm the exact affected versions against the vendor advisory before deciding you are exposed.
What should I do about CVE-2025-40538?
Patch when released; enforce least privilege; monitor admin actions.
Exploitation status reflects CISA's KEV catalog as we last synced it. Check the catalog directly.
Attacker with domain/group admin rights can create a system admin and run arbitrary code with elevated privileges.
Patch when possible
- affectedSolarWinds Serv-U 15.5.3 and prior versions
As published in the CVE Program record. A version outside these ranges is not a statement that it is unaffected — vendors sometimes understate a range, and distribution-backported builds carry upstream numbers that do not reflect what was patched into them.