Documentation forWeb Help Desk
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WHD 2026.1 release notes

Release date: January 28, 2026

Last updated: February 10, 2026

New features and improvements in WHD: February 10, 2026

Known issues: February 10, 2026

Here's what's new in WHD 2026.1. You can find the applicable system requirements here.

To view release notes, system requirements, and product guide PDFs for supported versions of WHD, see WHD previous versions. To view release notes for multiple versions and multiple SolarWinds Platform products on a single page, see the release notes aggregator.

New features and improvements in WHD

Last updated: February 10, 2026

Updated language and framework

WHD 2026.1 delivers a modern underlying language and framework that improves performance, security, and maintainability. Users can continue to experience the classic user interface with no changes.

New modern user interface

WHD 2026.1 also delivers a new and redesigned client interface that improves efficiency and ease of use. You can decide whether to make the modern user interface available to your users.

Installation instructions

  1. On the WHD server, open Windows Explorer and navigate to the Web Help Desk home directory: C:\Program Files\WebHelpDesk.

  2. Open the whd-nexgen folder, right-click the whd_nextgen.bat file, and select Run as administrator.

    The CLI screen appears.

  3. Wait for the application to start.

    Do not close the CLI screen or the application will stop running.

  4. When the batch file run is complete, installation is complete.

    At any time, you can check your logs by going to C:\Program Files\WebHelpDesk\log\whd-nextgen.log.

  5. Review the list of features that are not available through the modern user interface. The list is available on this page under Known issues.

    Your users can switch from the classic user interface to the modern user interface by changing the URL they use for login.

    • The URL for the classic user interface did not change.
    • The URL for the modern user interface is https://<DomainName/HostAddress>/helpdesk/nextgen/login.

    Web Help Desk is shipped with a built-in administrator account and a demo client account. They are linked by default. As a precaution, SolarWinds recommends you create a new client account to link to the administrator account in production environments. For more information, see Set up a secure configuration.

Fixed CVEs

At SolarWinds, we prioritize the swift resolution of CVEs to ensure the security and integrity of our software. In this release, we have successfully addressed the following CVEs.

SolarWinds CVEs

SolarWinds would like to thank our Security Researchers below for reporting on the 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-2025-40536 SolarWinds Web Help Desk Security Control Bypass Vulnerability SolarWinds Web Help Desk was found to be susceptible to a security control bypass vulnerability that if exploited, could allow an unauthenticated attacker to gain access to certain restricted functionality. 8.1 High Jimi Sebree from Horizon3.ai
CVE-2025-40537 SolarWinds Web Help Desk Hardcoded Credentials Vulnerability SolarWinds Web Help Desk was found to be susceptible to a hardcoded credentials vulnerability that, under certain situations, could allow access to administrative functions. 7.5 High Jimi Sebree from Horizon3.ai
CVE-2025-40551 SolarWinds Web Help Desk Deserialization of Untrusted Data Remote Code Execution Vulnerability SolarWinds Web Help Desk was found to be susceptible to an untrusted data deserialization vulnerability that could lead to remote code execution which would allow an attacker to run commands on the host machine. This could be exploited without authentication. 9.8 Critical Jimi Sebree from Horizon3.ai
CVE-2025-40552 SolarWinds Web Help Desk Authentication Bypass Vulnerability SolarWinds Web Help Desk was found to be susceptible to an authentication bypass vulnerability that if exploited, would allow a malicious actor to execute actions and methods that should be protected by authentication. 9.8 Critical Piotr Bazydlo from watchTowr
CVE-2025-40553 SolarWinds Web Help Desk Deserialization of Untrusted Data Remote Code Execution Vulnerability SolarWinds Web Help Desk was found to be susceptible to an untrusted data deserialization vulnerability that could lead to remote code execution which would allow an attacker to run commands on the host machine. This could be exploited without authentication. 9.8 Critical Piotr Bazydlo from watchTowr
CVE-2025-40554 SolarWinds Web Help Desk Authentication Bypass Vulnerability SolarWinds Web Help Desk was found to be susceptible to an authentication bypass vulnerability, which if exploited, could allow an attacker to invoke specific actions within Web Help Desk. 9.8 Critical Piotr Bazydlo from watchTowr

Fixed customer issues

Case number Description
01739435 Fixed an encryption error in the FIPS environment.
02018068 Removed inactive and on-vacation techs from the @mention tech dropdown.
01766567, 01802424 Quick Tickets and Bulk Actions now work correctly when a custom field height higher than 3 is configured.
n/a Replaced AJAX-based file upload (Wonder project) with an alternate upload implementation and removed the JABSORB dependency.
n/a A warning message is displayed when any user is allowed to create an account without domain restrictions.
n/a A warning message with a reminder to change the default admin password is displayed in the startup wizard
01920942 Date type custom field shows correct dates.

Installation or upgrade

For new installations, you can download the installer from the SolarWinds website or from the Customer Portal. For more information, see the WHD Installation and Upgrade Guide.

  • WHD supports Windows Server 2019 and 2022 for production environments and Windows 11 for trial evaluations. These operating system require additional setup to install. See the WHD Installation and Upgrade Guide for instructions.

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

For upgrades, use Upgrade WHD to plan and execute your upgrade.

  • Determine your upgrade path.

  • Download and install the upgrade package(s) from the SolarWinds Customer Portal.

  • After you have upgraded Releases, download and install any available hotfixes for this version of Releases. Hotfixes are available in the Customer Portal.

After you complete the installation, see the WHD Getting Started Guide. This guide picks up right after the installation process and walks you through the initial steps you need to take to start using the application.

Known issues

Last updated: February 10, 2026

Features unavailable through the modern user interface

The following features are unavailable through the modern user interface; however, they are still available through the classic user interface.

SolarWinds recommends that you review this list of features not currently available through the modern user interface.

  • SAML authentication: Only basic authentication is available. To continue using SAML authentication, users must use the classic user interface accessed via your company’s original URL.

  • Linux support: Linux is not supported because Next.js is not listening on required localhost ports.

  • macOS support: macOS is not supported for Sonoma, Sequoia, or Tahoe operating systems because of Next.js 21 incompatibility.

  • Asset reservation by client.

  • Approval process: CAB, location, and department approval types are not supported.

  • FIPS-configured instances.

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