No exploitation reportedFix available

CVE-2020-8540

Q: Is CVE-2020-8540 actively exploited?

Active exploitation of CVE-2020-8540 has not been confirmed. Its EPSS score was 12.8% on 2026-10-22, the estimated probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.

Q: What is the CVSS score for CVE-2020-8540?

CVE-2020-8540 has a CVSS v3 base score of 9.8 (CRITICAL severity), with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.

No exploitation reported by the sources we read.

Published2020-03-11
Fixed in2020-03-07
WeaknessCWE-611 · CWE-918

Am I affected?

With a domain, we read the version its public headers and pages expose. A distribution build can carry the fix under an older number.

Description

An XML external entity (XXE) vulnerability in Zoho ManageEngine Desktop Central before the 07-Mar-2020 update allows remote unauthenticated users to read arbitrary files or conduct server-side request forgery (SSRF) attacks via a crafted DTD in an XML request.

Timeline

dates in UTC

2020-03-1117:15CVE publishedNVD
2026-10-2319:23EPSS crossed 10 %FIRST EPSS

Observed activity

isMalicious corpus · updated 2026-10-23 18:48 UTC

Indicators tagged with this CVE, per day0 indicators over 7 days

Block these indicators

Firewall list (EDL, text): https://api.ismalicious.com/edl/cve/CVE-2020-8540?format=txt
CSV export: https://api.ismalicious.com/edl/cve/CVE-2020-8540?format=csv
TAXII collection of exploited CVEs
The EDL and CSV take an API key on the Pro plan.

Versions per branch

NVD

Zohocorp manageengine desktop central

Branch	Affected	Fixed in	Source
2020.x	< 2020-03-07	2020-03-07	NVD

as publishedRanges as NVD and OSV publish them; a distribution’s build can be fixed under an older number.

Fix

Update Zohocorp manageengine desktop central to 2020-03-07

Advisories and patches

www.manageengine.comVendor Advisory

Detection

Nuclei template: none so far
Exploit-DB: no entry
Proof-of-concept repositories: none listed

Sources

NVDCVSS 3.19.8read 2026-10-23
NVDCVSS 2.07.5read 2026-10-23
NVDweakness (CWE)CWE-611, CWE-918read 2026-10-23
FIRST EPSSEPSS score12.8 %read 2026-10-23

Technical details

CVSS v3 Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Published: 2020-03-11
Last Modified: 2026-06-17
NVD status: Modified

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2020-8540?

Is CVE-2020-8540 actively exploited?

Active exploitation of CVE-2020-8540 has not been confirmed. Its EPSS score was 12.8% on 2026-10-22, the estimated probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.

What is the CVSS score for CVE-2020-8540?

CVE-2020-8540 has a CVSS v3 base score of 9.8 (CRITICAL severity), with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.

Hear about the next vulnerability in your software

Surveillance reads the versions in your stack — a domain, a lockfile or a list — checks each CVE against the ranges its sources publish, and alerts you when one you run is exploited or enters CISA KEV. A version it cannot read stays « version not verified ».

Get alerts for this product CISA KEV additions, October 2026 Search CVEs

No credit card required · No monthly cap on website lookups · 250 API requests/month

Go further

Following what attackers exploit right now? The CISA KEV additions of the month, with their patch deadlines.
Running this software? Vulnerability monitoring alerts you to new vulnerabilities in your products.

Related vulnerabilities

Same product first, then the same vendor advisory and the same publication week.

Back to CVE Database