Zoho Patches Critical Vulnerability In Endpoint Management Solutions

Zoho Corp on Monday said it has released patches for a critical vulnerability affecting Desktop Central and Desktop Central MSP, the endpoint management solutions from ManageEngine.

Tracked as CVE-2021-44757 and rated critical severity, the newly addressed security error is an authentication bypass issue that could allow a remote attacker to perform various actions on the server.

“An authentication bypass vulnerability […] was identified which, when exploited, can allow an attacker to read unauthorized data or write an arbitrary zip file,” Zoho explains.

Anyone with access to the internal network can exploit the vulnerability, even if a security gateway is in use for access to the central server. The vulnerability can be exploited from the Internet as well, provided that UI Access is enabled via Secure Gateway.

On January 17, Zoho announced the availability of patches for both Desktop Central and Desktop Central MSP. Users of either endpoint management solution should upgrade to build 10.1.2137.9 to address the issue.

Customers are advised to log into their Desktop Central console and check the current build number on the top right corner. Those in the build range 10.1.2140.X to 10.1.2149.X should contact the ManageEngine team to receive the fix.

“Do follow the security hardening guidelines for Desktop Central and Desktop Central MSP to ensure all the security controls are configured to keep your network secure,” the company says.

Desktop Central and Desktop Central MSP are designed as central locations for managing all types of devices within an organization, including desktops, laptops, servers, smartphones, and tablets.

While Desktop Central is meant to augment traditional desktop management services, Desktop Central MSP was created for small, medium, and large MSPs.

Zoho made no mention of the vulnerability being exploited in malicious attacks.