# CVE-2020-10189: Zoho ManageEngine - XXE

> Live exploitation tracking for CVE-2020-10189 by the CrowdSec Live Exploit Tracker, built from real-world attack data crowdsourced from CrowdSec's global network.

Page: https://tracker.crowdsec.net/cves/CVE-2020-10189

## Key facts

- **Exploitation phase:** Active Exploitation. The vulnerability is actively exploited at scale across the internet, often via automated tools and large attack campaigns.
- **CVSS score:** 9.8
- **Public exploit available:** Yes
- **Affected products:** Zoho ManageEngine
- **Weaknesses:** CWE-502 (Deserialization of Untrusted Data)
- **Tags:** enterprise_software

## Description

Zoho ManageEngine Desktop Central before 10.0.474 allows remote code execution because of deserialization of untrusted data in getChartImage in the FileStorage class. This is related to the CewolfServlet and MDMLogUploaderServlet servlets.

## CrowdSec analysis

[CVE-2020-10189](https://euvd.enisa.europa.eu/vulnerability/CVE-2020-10189) is a critical remote code execution vulnerability in Zoho ManageEngine Desktop Central, stemming from unsafe deserialization in certain servlet components.

CrowdSec has been tracking this vulnerability and its exploits since 9th of May 2025.

CrowdSec network data shows that most actors exploiting CVE-2020-10189 rely on broad, untargeted scans with minimal filtering. The activity is largely automated and opportunistic in nature.
Additionally, according to week-over-week analysis by CrowdSec, exploitation of CVE-2020-10189 is surging. Attack volumes are spiking well above historical norms, indicating widespread and escalating interest from threat actors. CVE-2020-10189 is currently experiencing high visibility and active exploitation across the internet.

Detected exploitation attempts often involve access to URLs containing `/mdm/client/v1/mdmloguploader`, with specific patterns in the request parameters.

## Timeline

- 2020-03-06: CVE Published. CVE-2020-10189 is published to NVD.
- 2021-11-03: CISA KEV. CVE-2020-10189 is added to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog by CISA.
- 2022-05-03: CISA Remediation Deadline. Expiration of the CISA remediation deadline as described in [BOD 22-01](https://www.cisa.gov/news-events/directives/bod-22-01-reducing-significant-risk-known-exploited-vulnerabilities).
- 2025-05-09: Rule Released. CrowdSec releases a rule to detect CVE-2020-10189 exploitation attempts against the CrowdSec Network.
- 2025-05-12: CrowdSec First Seen. CrowdSec observes in-the-wild exploitation of CVE-2020-10189 for the first time.

## References

- https://srcincite.io/advisories/src-2020-0011/
- https://www.zdnet.com/article/zoho-zero-day-published-on-twitter/
- https://srcincite.io/pocs/src-2020-0011.py.txt
- https://www.manageengine.com/products/desktop-central/remote-code-execution-vulnerability.html
- https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/502.html
- https://github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei-templates/blob/main/http/cves/2020/CVE-2020-10189.yaml

## Live exploitation data

The [Live Exploit Tracker page](https://tracker.crowdsec.net/cves/CVE-2020-10189) follows observed exploitation activity for CVE-2020-10189. [Request an API key](https://tracker.crowdsec.net/request-api-key) for full access to its exploitation timeline, attacking IP addresses and blocklists.