Vulnerability Monitor

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CVE-2021-22048

The vCenter Server contains a privilege escalation vulnerability in the IWA (Integrated Windows Authentication) authentication mechanism. A malicious actor with non-administrative access to vCenter Server may exploit this issue to elevate privileges to a higher privileged group.

Security Impact Summary

This vulnerability carries a HIGH severity rating with a CVSS v3.1 score of 8.8, indicating it can be exploited remotely over the network with relatively low complexity without requiring user interaction requiring only low-level privileges . The vulnerability impacts confidentiality (data exposure), integrity (unauthorized modifications), and availability (service disruption) for affected systems. Impacting 2 products from vmware, from vmware organizations running these solutions should prioritize assessment and patching.

Historical Context

Reported in 2021, this vulnerability emerged during an era marked by increased sophistication in supply chain attacks, cloud infrastructure vulnerabilities, and software-as-a-service (SaaS) security challenges. Security practices during this period emphasized zero-trust architectures, container security, and API protection.

Published

2021-11-10T18:15:08.037

Last Modified

2025-10-31T11:44:38.620

Status

Modified

Source

[email protected]

Severity

CVSSv3.1: 8.8 (HIGH)

CVSSv2 Vector

AV:N/AC:L/Au:S/C:P/I:P/A:P

Access Vector: NETWORK
Access Complexity: LOW
Authentication: SINGLE
Confidentiality Impact: PARTIAL
Integrity Impact: PARTIAL
Availability Impact: PARTIAL

Exploitability Score

8.0

Impact Score

6.4

Weaknesses

Type: Primary
NVD-CWE-noinfo

Affected Vendors & Products

Type	Vendor	Product	Version/Range	Vulnerable?
Application	vmware	cloud_foundation	≤ 3.10.2.2	Yes
Application	vmware	cloud_foundation	≤ 4.1.0.1	Yes
Application	vmware	vcenter_server	6.5	Yes
Application	vmware	vcenter_server	6.7	Yes
Application	vmware	vcenter_server	7.0	Yes

References

http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/167733/VMware-Security-Advisory-2022-0025.2.html Release Notes, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry ([email protected])
http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/167795/VMware-Security-Advisory-2021-0025.3.html Release Notes, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry ([email protected])
https://www.vmware.com/security/advisories/VMSA-2021-0025.html Patch, Vendor Advisory ([email protected])
http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/167733/VMware-Security-Advisory-2022-0025.2.html Release Notes, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/167795/VMware-Security-Advisory-2021-0025.3.html Release Notes, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)
https://www.vmware.com/security/advisories/VMSA-2021-0025.html Patch, Vendor Advisory (af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108)

How SecUtils Interprets This CVE

SecUtils normalizes and enriches National Vulnerability Database (NVD) records by standardizing vendor and product identifiers, aggregating vulnerability metadata from both NVD and MITRE sources, and providing structured context for security teams. For vmware's affected products, we extract Common Platform Enumeration (CPE) data, Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) classifications, CVSS severity metrics, and reference data to enable rapid vulnerability prioritization and asset correlation. This record contains no exploit code, proof-of-concept instructions, or attack methodologies—only defensive intelligence necessary for patch management, risk assessment, and security operations.