Web Help Desk 12.7.6 release notes

Release date: August 20, 2021

These release notes were last updated on August 16, 2024.

These release notes describe the new features, improvements, and fixed issues in Web Help Desk 12.7.6. They also provide information about upgrades and describe workarounds for known issues.

Learn more

• If you are looking for previous Web Help Desk release notes, see Previous Version documentation.
• If you are looking for a hotfix, see Web Help Desk Hotfixes. This release includes all hotfixes from the previous version.
• If you are looking for a Knowledge Base (KB) article, see the SolarWinds Success Center.

New features and improvements

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Web Help Desk 12.7.6 offers new enhancements and improvements compared to previous releases.

Updated Apache Tomcat

This release includes Apache Tomcat 9.0.48, which provides additional enhancements to further harden the application. This version replaces Tomcat 9.0.43, which is no longer supported.

Tomcat is an open source software product that creates both a web and application server for your enterprise.

Internal improvements

This release includes additional updates that improve the product stability and functionality.

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New customer installation

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See the Web Help Desk Installation and Upgrade Guide for details about installing Web Help Desk. After you complete the installation, see the Web Help Desk Getting Started Guide. This guide picks up right after the installation process and walks you through the initial steps you need to start using the application.

Web Help Desk no longer includes the additional configuration files required to enable Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) mode in the application. To install Web Help Desk and enable FIPS, see Enable FIPS in a new deployment located in the Web Help Desk Administrator Guide.

To install Web Help Desk 12.7.6 with FIPS mode disabled, install version 12.7.6 on the host server. When the installation is completed, enable FIPS mode.

SQL Server database collation requirements

If you plan to use a Microsoft SQL Server database for your deployment, verify that the server collation in your database is set to case insensitive before you run the installer. If it is set to case sensitive, create a new case insensitive database using SQL Server Management Studio.

See Prepare your Web Help Desk database in the Web Help Desk Administrator Guide for details.

How to upgrade

If you are upgrading from a previous version, see the Web Help Desk Installation and Upgrade Guide. This guide provides steps and procedures for installing and upgrading Web Help Desk in an evaluation, stand-alone, or integrated Orion deployment.

Upgrade your FIPS deployment

If FIPS is enabled in your Web Help Desk 12.7.2 through 12.7.4 deployment, copy the following files to another location before you upgrade:

• <WebHelpDesk>\bin\nss-x64
• <WebHelpDesk>\conf\additional\fips-140-2

When you are finished, upgrade to 12.7.5, and then upgrade to 12.7.6.

See the Web Help Desk Installation and Upgrade Guide for details.

Install the MySQL JDBC driver

Beginning with Web Help Desk 12.7.1, Oracle Java is replaced with the Open Java Development Kit (OpenJDK). This update modifies the directory structure where the MySQL Java Database Connectivity (JDBC) driver is installed. To prevent errors after the upgrade, install the driver on your host server in the new location to prevent errors in the application after the upgrade.

Upgrade your Apache Tomcat software

The software installer includes Apache Tomcat 9.0.48, which provides enhanced security and is required for this release.

When you upgrade your Web Help Desk software, the upgrade procedure replaces the <WebHelpDesk>\conf\tomcat_web_template.xml file with an updated file that includes the Tomcat 9.0.48 settings.

Before you upgrade, back up your current tomcat_web_template.xml file to an external directory. When the upgrade is completed, add your personal settings to the updated file from your backup file.

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Fixed issues

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Web Help Desk 12.7.6 fixes the following issues.

Case Number	Description
00160912 00541462 00843890	Look & Feel no longer displays code when you click Refresh Preview.
N/A	A broken logo link no longer displays in the Web Help Desk Administrator Console when you create a new logo in Look & Feel.
N/A	Changing the ticket priority from a pop-up note no longer generates an error.
00349376 00804837	Techs no longer receive two email notifications from an Orion integration alert.
00515558 00833258	Bullet lists now display correctly in an FAQ.
00545110	Content Security Policy headers were added for further application hardening.
00486229 00545529	Ticket with Arabic characters no longer display random characters in an exported TSV file.
00550642	A ticket with pending checklist items no longer closes automatically when the status is changed to Resolved.
00734875	Arabian characters now display correctly in a Google Chrome of Microsoft Edge web browser.
00779800	The ticket dashboard now displays chart results in the proper order.
00794196	The History tab in the client interface now displays the correct custom date field and allows users to add comments as needed.
00787966	You can now search by company, location, and location custom field.
00759940	Techs with limited permissions can now log in to Web Help Desk without generating an error.
00763185 00769907	An error no longer displays when you open Ticket View from the My Tickets tab.
00751853	Action rules are now applied correctly to Orion Alert tickets.
00759940	You no longer need to add the tech password when editing a tech profile.
00549324 00657215	A tech account is no longer locked out when you use the Web Help Desk Discovery Engine (WMI).
00779376	The Inventory import now updates automatically in the part index.
00806759	When you open a ticket from a calendar link, the ticket now includes the correct linked parent ticket.
00781086 00809152 00810240	Request type now display in order in the administrator console.
00806352 00815251	LDAP connections now work correctly after upgrading to Web Help Desk 12.7.5.
00814207	Child ticket notes in a parent ticket now display correctly in the Client view.
00791113 00815464	Logging in to Web Help Desk using Google G-Suite with SAML no longer generates an error.
00818916 00825466 00825514 00828748 00845959	Backing up the PostgreSQL database no longer generates an error after you upgrade the application or change the default user account.
00825179	Special characters now display correctly in a TSV report.
00706166	Configuring an incoming email account for Office 365 using Open Authentication (OAuth) no longer generates an error.
00824268	HTML tags no longer display in the Ticket Update summary.
00827311	In a ticket, the Client check box under Recipients is no longer disabled.
00837591	The Client interface now displays all FAQ pages when you click Show Details in an FAQ.
00843876	Error messages generated during an asset import now display with visible characters.
00839804	Client administrators who manage over 2,100 locations on a Web Help Desk with a Microsoft SQL Server database can now view tickets on the History page.
00851854	All comments entered by a tech now display correctly in the ticket.
00844303	You can now select or deselect all request types in the ticket custom fields.
00842087	When you create a new ticket request type, the text entered in the Detailed Instructions box now displays as blue text above the Request Detail field.
00842822 00843948 00851733 00858405	The ticket request types now display in alphabetical order.
00850182	Greek characters now display correctly in a ticket when using the email option.
00847005	Updating a user profile in the Client interface no longer generates an error.
00800567	Viewing tickets in the Client interface no longer generates an error.

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CVE issues

SolarWinds would like to thank our Security Researchers below for reporting on this issue in a responsible manner and working with our security, product, and engineering teams to fix the vulnerability.

CVE-ID	Vulnerability Title	Description	Severity	Credit
CVE-2021-32076	Access Restriction bypass via referrer spoof - Business Logic Bypass: WHD 12.7.2	While performing penetration testing, it was observed that an attacker can access the “Web Help Desk Getting Started Wizard,” especially the admin account creation page, from non-privileged IP range or loopback by interception of the http request and changing the referrer from the public IP to the loopback “http://127.0.0.1:8081.”	Medium	Moaaz Taha

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Legal notices

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