Actively exploited · Published Feb 24, 2021 · Assigned by vmware
CVE-2021-21972
Critical 9.8 Exploited Ransomware
In plain English
A critical-severity path traversal in VMware Cloud Foundation. Attackers are actively exploiting it in the wild (listed by CISA on November 3, 2021). It has been used in ransomware campaigns. The chance it is exploited in the next 30 days is estimated at 99.9% (higher than 99.9% of all known vulnerabilities). Ready-made attack tooling exists: Metasploit, Nuclei, public proof-of-concept code. Apply updates per vendor instructions.
CISA guidance
Apply updates per vendor instructions.
Federal agencies must remediate by Nov 17, 2021.
Official description
The vSphere Client (HTML5) contains a remote code execution vulnerability in a vCenter Server plugin. A malicious actor with network access to port 443 may exploit this issue to execute commands with unrestricted privileges on the underlying operating system that hosts vCenter Server. This affects VMware vCenter Server (7.x before 7.0 U1c, 6.7 before 6.7 U3l and 6.5 before 6.5 U3n) and VMware Cloud Foundation (4.x before 4.2 and 3.x before 3.10.1.2).
Affected products (as reported)
| Vendor | Product | Versions |
|---|---|---|
| n/a | VMware vCenter Server | 7.x before 7.0 U1c6.7 before 6.7 U3l6.5 before 6.5 U3n |
| n/a | VMware Cloud Foundation | 4.x before 4.23.x before 3.10.1.2 |
Weakness: CWE-22 · Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
References
- https://www.vmware.com/security/advisories/VMSA-2021-0002.html x_refsource_CONFIRM
- http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/161590/VMware-vCenter-Server-7.0-Arbitrary-File-Upload.html x_refsource_MISC
- http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/161695/VMware-vCenter-Server-File-Upload-Remote-Code-Execution.html x_refsource_MISC
- http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/163268/VMware-vCenter-6.5-6.7-7.0-Remote-Code-Execution.html x_refsource_MISC
- https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2021-21972 government-resource