CVE-2025-27709: ManageEngine ADAudit Plus SQLi Flaw

CVE-2025-27709 Overview

CVE-2025-27709 is an authenticated SQL injection vulnerability affecting Zohocorp ManageEngine ADAudit Plus versions 8510 and prior. The flaw resides in the Service Account Auditing reports component and allows authenticated users to inject arbitrary SQL statements into backend database queries. The vulnerability is classified under CWE-89 (Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command). ManageEngine has published a vendor advisory and released a fixed build to address the issue.

Critical Impact

Authenticated attackers can manipulate SQL queries in Service Account Auditing reports, leading to unauthorized read and write access to the underlying ADAudit Plus database and potential exposure of Active Directory audit data.

Affected Products

• Zohocorp ManageEngine ADAudit Plus version 8.5 (build 8500)
• Zohocorp ManageEngine ADAudit Plus version 8.5 (build 8510)
• Zohocorp ManageEngine ADAudit Plus all versions prior to and including build 8510

Discovery Timeline

• 2025-06-09 - CVE-2025-27709 published to NVD
• 2025-06-16 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-27709

Vulnerability Analysis

The vulnerability exists in the Service Account Auditing reports feature of ManageEngine ADAudit Plus. User-supplied parameters submitted to this reporting component are concatenated into SQL statements without proper parameterization or input sanitization. Authenticated users with access to the reporting interface can craft malicious input that alters the structure of the executed query.

Successful exploitation enables read access to confidential audit records, modification of stored data, and limited disruption of database availability. Because ADAudit Plus stores extensive logs of Active Directory activity, including service account behavior, group membership changes, and logon events, a compromised database can expose sensitive enterprise identity telemetry.

The attack requires network reachability to the ADAudit Plus web interface and valid authenticated credentials. No user interaction is needed beyond the attacker's own session.

Root Cause

The root cause is improper neutralization of SQL metacharacters in request parameters consumed by the Service Account Auditing reports module. The affected code path constructs SQL queries using string concatenation instead of prepared statements with bound parameters, allowing query logic to be modified by attacker-controlled input.

Attack Vector

An authenticated attacker sends crafted HTTP requests to the Service Account Auditing reports endpoint. The malicious payload embeds SQL syntax that breaks out of the intended query structure and appends attacker-controlled SQL clauses. The database engine then executes the modified query under the privileges of the ADAudit Plus database account. Refer to the ManageEngine CVE-2025-27709 Advisory for vendor-confirmed technical context.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-27709

Indicators of Compromise

• Unusual or malformed query parameters submitted to Service Account Auditing report URLs in ADAudit Plus web server access logs.
• Database error messages or stack traces appearing in ADAudit Plus application logs following report generation requests.
• Unexpected SQL statements, UNION SELECT constructs, or time-delay functions present in database query logs originating from the ADAudit Plus service account.
• Authenticated sessions generating high volumes of report requests from a single source address.

Detection Strategies

• Enable verbose application and database logging on the ADAudit Plus host and review reporting endpoints for SQL syntax fragments in parameter values.
• Deploy a web application firewall in front of ADAudit Plus with rules tuned to detect SQL injection patterns such as boolean tautologies, stacked queries, and inline comments.
• Correlate authenticated user activity with anomalous database query volume or query duration using existing SIEM telemetry.

Monitoring Recommendations

• Monitor ADAudit Plus authentication logs for low-privilege accounts accessing reporting modules they do not normally use.
• Alert on database errors emitted by the ADAudit Plus backend, including syntax errors and conversion failures that often accompany injection attempts.
• Track outbound network connections from the ADAudit Plus server for signs of data exfiltration following suspicious report activity.

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-27709

Immediate Actions Required

• Upgrade ManageEngine ADAudit Plus to the fixed build released by Zohocorp as documented in the vendor advisory.
• Restrict network access to the ADAudit Plus web console to trusted administrative networks only.
• Audit all ADAudit Plus user accounts and remove unused or excessive privileges, particularly access to Service Account Auditing reports.
• Rotate credentials for the ADAudit Plus database service account if compromise is suspected.

Patch Information

Zohocorp has released a fixed build of ManageEngine ADAudit Plus addressing this vulnerability. Administrators running build 8510 or earlier must apply the update available through the ManageEngine customer portal. Consult the ManageEngine CVE-2025-27709 Advisory for the specific fixed build number and upgrade procedure.

Workarounds

• Limit ADAudit Plus console access to a small set of trusted administrators until the patch is applied.
• Place ADAudit Plus behind a reverse proxy or WAF and block requests containing SQL metacharacters targeting reporting endpoints.
• Disable or restrict access to the Service Account Auditing report feature where operationally feasible until upgrade completion.

# Configuration example: restrict ADAudit Plus web access via host firewall (Windows)
netsh advfirewall firewall add rule name="ADAudit Plus Admin Only" \
  dir=in action=allow protocol=TCP localport=8081 \
  remoteip=10.0.0.0/24 profile=any