# CVE-2021-44515: Zoho Desktop Central Authentication Bypass Vulnerability

- Exploited (CISA KEV): yes, added 2021-12-10
- Published: 2021-12-12
- CVSS: 9.8 CRITICAL (v3.1)
- EPSS: 99.9% (100th percentile)

Zoho ManageEngine Desktop Central is vulnerable to authentication bypass, leading to remote code execution on the server, as exploited in the wild in December 2021. For Enterprise builds 10.1.2127.17 and earlier, upgrade to 10.1.2127.18. For Enterprise builds 10.1.2128.0 through 10.1.2137.2, upgrade to 10.1.2137.3. For MSP builds 10.1.2127.17 and earlier, upgrade to 10.1.2127.18. For MSP builds 10.1.2128.0 through 10.1.2137.2, upgrade to 10.1.2137.3.

## Edge WAF coverage (claimed by vendors, not measured)

| Vendor | Status | First rule | Days after publication |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cloudflare | Before feed history | — | — |
| AWS | No public claim | — | — |
| Microsoft Azure | No public claim | — | — |
| Google Cloud | Before feed history | — | — |
| Fastly | Before feed history | — | — |
| F5 | Rule published | 2023-08-08 | — |
| Akamai | No public source | — | — |
| OWASP CRS | Before feed history | — | — |

### F5

- 2023-08-08 · updated · rule 200013043
  > Updated: signature 200013043 "Authentication Bypass in ManageEngine Desktop Central" (Authentication/Authorization Attacks, risk High), systems: Other Web Server. References: CVE-2021-44515.
  Source: https://docs.cloud.f5.com/docs-v2/platform/changelogs/security-details-changelog
- 2023-09-12 · updated · rule 200013043
  > Updated: signature 200013043 "Authentication Bypass in ManageEngine Desktop Central" (Authentication/Authorization Attacks, risk High), systems: Other Web Server. References: CVE-2021-44515.
  Source: https://docs.cloud.f5.com/docs-v2/platform/changelogs/security-details-changelog

## Our test (measured)

- OWASP Core Rule Set 4.25.0, paranoia level 1, anomaly threshold 5, default CRS settings: passed (0 of 1 requests blocked), template CVE-2021-44515, 2026-11-02
- OWASP Core Rule Set 4.25.0, paranoia level 2, anomaly threshold 5, default CRS settings: passed (0 of 1 requests blocked), template CVE-2021-44515, 2026-11-02

"No public claim" means no vendor statement names this CVE; "Before feed history" means the CVE is older than the vendor feed. In both cases generic rules may still block it.

HTML: https://cve.vigilbase.com/cve/CVE-2021-44515 · JSON: https://cve.vigilbase.com/api/v1/cves/CVE-2021-44515