A critical vulnerability (CVE-2026-11374) in ManageEngine AD360’s Single Sign-On implementation allows attackers to predict authentication tokens, potentially gaining unauthorized access to integrated identity management systems. The flaw affects AD360 versions prior to build 6402 and enables attackers to bypass authentication mechanisms by exploiting weak token generation algorithms. Organizations using AD360 for centralized identity management should immediately upgrade to the patched version to prevent potential account takeovers and lateral movement within their Active Directory environments.
Introduction
ManageEngine’s AD360, a comprehensive Active Directory management and security solution used by thousands of enterprises globally, has been found vulnerable to a severe authentication bypass flaw. CVE-2026-11374 represents a fundamental weakness in how the platform generates and validates Single Sign-On (SSO) tokens, allowing threat actors to predict valid authentication credentials and impersonate legitimate users.
The vulnerability was discovered during routine security testing and affects the SSO integration mechanism that connects AD360 with various identity management modules. Given that AD360 serves as a central hub for managing user identities, permissions, and access controls across enterprise environments, successful exploitation could provide attackers with extensive visibility and control over organizational user accounts and security policies.
This authentication weakness is particularly concerning because AD360 typically runs with elevated privileges necessary for Active Directory administration, making it a high-value target for attackers seeking to establish persistence or escalate privileges within enterprise networks.
Background & Context
ManageEngine AD360 is an integrated identity and access management solution that combines multiple modules including ADManager Plus, ADAudit Plus, ADSelfService Plus, and others into a unified platform. Organizations deploy AD360 to streamline Active Directory management, automate user provisioning, monitor security events, and enforce compliance policies across their Windows infrastructure.
The SSO functionality in AD360 was designed to provide seamless authentication across these integrated modules, eliminating the need for users to authenticate separately to each component. However, this convenience introduced a critical security dependency—if the SSO mechanism is compromised, all integrated services become accessible to attackers.
Token prediction vulnerabilities typically arise from several implementation flaws: using weak random number generators, incorporating predictable elements like timestamps or sequential identifiers, insufficient entropy in token generation, or reusing cryptographic keys across sessions. These weaknesses allow attackers to analyze existing tokens and mathematically derive valid credentials for other users or sessions.
Previous vulnerabilities in ManageEngine products have demonstrated that the vendor’s solutions are attractive targets for advanced persistent threat groups, particularly those focused on gaining access to identity infrastructure that can facilitate long-term network access and data exfiltration.
Technical Breakdown
CVE-2026-11374 stems from an insecure implementation of the token generation algorithm used for SSO authentication between AD360 and its integrated modules. The vulnerability exists in the authentication handler that creates session tokens when users authenticate to the primary AD360 interface.
The flawed token generation process incorporates several predictable components:
Token Structure Weakness: Analysis reveals that SSO tokens follow a deterministic pattern combining base64-encoded user identifiers, timestamp values rounded to predictable intervals, and a cryptographic signature generated using a static key that persists across application restarts.
# Simplified representation of vulnerable token structure
token = base64(userID + timestamp_rounded + hmac(static_key, userID + timestamp))An attacker who captures one or more valid tokens can reverse-engineer this structure through the following process:
- Token Collection: Intercept legitimate SSO tokens through network sniffing, web proxy logs, or compromised client systems
- Pattern Analysis: Decode tokens to identify predictable components and structural patterns
- Entropy Measurement: Calculate the effective randomness of variable token components
- Prediction Algorithm: Develop a script to generate candidate tokens for target users or time windows
# Example token prediction workflow
# 1. Capture existing token
CAPTURED_TOKEN="eyJ1c2VySWQiOiIxMjM0IiwidGltZXN0YW1wIjoiMTcwNjgwODAwMCIsInNpZyI6ImFiY2RlZiJ9"
# 2. Decode and analyze structure
echo $CAPTURED_TOKEN | base64 -d
# 3. Generate prediction candidates for target user
for timestamp in $(seq 1706808000 1706811600); do
generate_token "target_user" $timestamp
done
The vulnerability is exacerbated by several additional factors:
- Extended Token Validity: Tokens remain valid for 24 hours by default, providing a wide exploitation window
- No Rate Limiting: The authentication endpoint lacks brute-force protections, allowing rapid token validation attempts
- Insufficient Logging: Failed authentication attempts using predicted tokens are not consistently logged, hindering detection
Successful exploitation grants attackers the same privileges as the impersonated user within AD360’s management interface, including access to sensitive user data, group memberships, password reset capabilities, and audit log information.
Impact & Risk Assessment
The security implications of CVE-2026-11374 are severe for organizations relying on AD360 for identity management:
Direct Authentication Bypass: Attackers can gain unauthorized access to AD360 without requiring valid credentials, circumventing multi-factor authentication and other security controls applied at the initial authentication layer.
Privilege Escalation: By predicting tokens for administrative accounts, attackers can elevate their privileges within the identity management system, potentially gaining domain-wide control over Active Directory environments.
Identity Information Disclosure: Successful exploitation exposes comprehensive user identity data including email addresses, organizational structure, group memberships, and access permissions—valuable reconnaissance information for targeted attacks.
Lateral Movement Facilitation: With administrative access to AD360, attackers can create backdoor accounts, modify existing user permissions, or extract password hashes to facilitate movement across the network.
Compliance Violations: Unauthorized access to identity systems creates significant regulatory exposure under frameworks like GDPR, HIPAA, and SOX that mandate protection of personal information and access controls.
Organizations in sectors with high-value intellectual property, financial services, healthcare, and government agencies face elevated risk due to the sensitive nature of identity infrastructure. The CVSS v3.1 score for this vulnerability is 8.1 (High), with the attack vector being network-based, requiring low complexity, and no user interaction.
Vendor Response
ManageEngine acknowledged CVE-2026-11374 on their security advisory page and released patches addressing the vulnerability on March 15, 2026. The vendor’s response included:
Patched Versions: AD360 build 6402 and later implement a revised token generation mechanism with cryptographically secure random number generation and per-session cryptographic keys.
Security Advisory: ManageEngine published security bulletin MB-2026-003 detailing affected versions, exploitation risks, and upgrade procedures. The advisory confirms that all AD360 deployments prior to build 6402 are vulnerable.
No Workaround: The vendor explicitly states that no configuration changes or workarounds can mitigate the vulnerability; upgrading to the patched version is the only effective remediation.
Active Exploitation Status: As of publication, ManageEngine has not confirmed evidence of active exploitation in the wild, though the predictable nature of the flaw suggests sophisticated threat actors may have independently discovered and exploited it.
The vendor recommends that administrators review authentication logs for suspicious access patterns during the vulnerability window and conduct security audits of any administrative actions taken through AD360 interfaces.
Mitigations & Workarounds
Given that no configuration-based workaround exists, organizations must prioritize immediate patching:
Immediate Actions:
- Upgrade to Patched Version: Deploy AD360 build 6402 or later following ManageEngine’s upgrade documentation
- Verify Installation: Confirm successful patch deployment by checking the version number in the application’s About section
- Session Invalidation: Force logout all active SSO sessions post-upgrade to ensure old tokens are invalidated
# Check current AD360 version
curl -k https://ad360-server:8443/api/version
# Invalidate all active sessions post-upgrade (admin console)
/ManageEngine/AD360/bin/InvalidateSessions.sh --all
Temporary Risk Reduction (if immediate patching is not feasible):
- Network Segmentation: Restrict AD360 access to management networks only, blocking access from general user segments
- Enhanced Monitoring: Implement aggressive monitoring of authentication events, flagging multiple authentication attempts or access from unusual source IPs
- MFA at Network Layer: Deploy additional authentication requirements at the network perimeter (VPN with MFA) to reduce attack surface
- Reduce Token Lifetime: Modify session timeout settings to the minimum operationally acceptable value
15
Detection & Monitoring
Organizations should implement comprehensive logging and monitoring to detect potential exploitation attempts:
Authentication Log Analysis: Monitor AD360 authentication logs for anomalous patterns:
# Search for multiple rapid authentication attempts
grep "SSO_AUTH_SUCCESS" /ManageEngine/AD360/logs/server.log | \
awk '{print $1,$2,$NF}' | sort | uniq -c | sort -rn | head -20Indicators of Compromise:
- Successful authentications from unexpected IP addresses or geographic locations
- Authentication events for administrative accounts during off-hours
- Multiple successful logins for the same account from different source IPs simultaneously
- Access to sensitive functions (password resets, permission changes) by accounts that typically don’t use these features
- Authentication success without corresponding application-level activity logs
SIEM Detection Rules:
# Example Splunk query
index=ad360 sourcetype=authentication action=success
| stats dc(src_ip) as unique_ips by user
| where unique_ips > 3
| where _time > relative_time(now(), "-1h")Network-Level Detection: Deploy IDS/IPS rules to identify token prediction attempts through pattern analysis of authentication requests showing sequential or pattern-based variations.
Best Practices
Beyond immediate remediation, organizations should implement comprehensive security practices for identity management systems:
Authentication Security:
- Enforce MFA for all administrative access to identity management platforms
- Implement certificate-based authentication for service-to-service communications
- Regularly rotate cryptographic keys used in authentication mechanisms
- Deploy Web Application Firewalls (WAF) with rate limiting for authentication endpoints
Architectural Security:
- Isolate identity management systems on dedicated network segments with strict firewall rules
- Implement privileged access management (PAM) solutions for administrative access
- Deploy jump hosts or bastion servers for accessing identity infrastructure
- Maintain separate administrative accounts for identity management tasks
Operational Security:
- Conduct regular security assessments of identity infrastructure
- Subscribe to vendor security advisories and establish rapid patching processes
- Implement comprehensive audit logging with long-term retention
- Develop and test incident response procedures specific to identity system compromises
Visibility and Governance:
- Maintain current inventory of all identity management systems and versions
- Document integration points and authentication flows between systems
- Establish baseline behavior profiles for administrative accounts
- Conduct regular access reviews for privileged identity management accounts
Key Takeaways
- CVE-2026-11374 represents a critical authentication bypass in ManageEngine AD360’s SSO implementation affecting all versions prior to build 6402
- The vulnerability allows attackers to predict valid authentication tokens through analysis of token structure and generation patterns
- Successful exploitation grants unauthorized access to comprehensive identity information and administrative functions
- No workaround exists; upgrading to the patched version is mandatory for all affected deployments
- Organizations should review authentication logs for suspicious activity during the vulnerability window
- Identity management systems require defense-in-depth strategies including network segmentation, enhanced monitoring, and strict access controls
- Regular security assessments and rapid patch deployment processes are essential for protecting critical identity infrastructure
References
- ManageEngine Security Advisory MB-2026-003: https://www.manageengine.com/security/CVE-2026-11374.html
- CVE-2026-11374 National Vulnerability Database Entry: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-11374
- ManageEngine AD360 Build 6402 Release Notes: https://www.manageengine.com/products/ad-360/release-notes.html
- OWASP Authentication Cheat Sheet: https://cheatsheetseries.owasp.org/cheatsheets/Authentication_Cheat_Sheet.html
- NIST Digital Identity Guidelines (SP 800-63): https://pages.nist.gov/800-63-3/
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