VMware addresses a critical RCE issue in vCenter Server

February 23, 2021  By Pierluigi Paganini


VMware addressed a critical remote code execution flaw, tracked as CVE-2021-21972, in vCenter Server virtual infrastructure management platform.

VMware has addressed a critical remote code execution (RCE) vulnerability in the vCenter Server virtual infrastructure management platform, tracked as CVE-2021-21972, that could be exploited by attackers to potentially take control of affected systems.

vCenter Server is the centralized management utility for VMware, and is used to manage virtual machines, multiple ESXi hosts, and all dependent components from a single centralized location.

The flaw could be exploited by remote, unauthenticated attackers without user interaction.

“The vSphere Client (HTML5) contains a remote code execution vulnerability in a vCenter Server plugin. VMware has evaluated the severity of this issue to be in the Critical severity range with a maximum CVSSv3 base score of 9.8.” reads the advisory published. “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. “

The CVE-2021-21972 issue was reported by Mikhail Klyuchnikov from Positive Technologies, it has received a CVSSv3 base score of 9.8/ 10 according to VMware’s security advisory.

The issue affects vCenter Server plugin for vROPs which is available in all default installations. vROPs does not need be present to have this endpoint available. The virtualization giant has provided workarounds to disable it.

The company recommends upgrading vulnerable vCenter Server installs to versions 6.5 U3n, 6.7 U3l, or 7.0 U1c as soon as possible.

VMware also provides step-by-step Workaround Instructions for CVE-2021-21972 and CVE-2021-21973 (KB82374 support document).

VMware also addressed an important heap-overflow flaw, tracked as CVE-2021-21974, in VMware ESXi. The issue can be exploited by attackers to execute arbitrary code remotely on vulnerable devices.

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Pierluigi Paganini

(SecurityAffairs – hacking, VMWare)

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Pierluigi Paganini
Pierluigi Paganini is member of the ENISA (European Union Agency for Network and Information Security) Threat Landscape Stakeholder Group and Cyber G7 Group, he is also a Security Evangelist, Security Analyst and Freelance Writer. Editor-in-Chief at "Cyber Defense Magazine", Pierluigi is a cyber security expert with over 20 years experience in the field, he is Certified Ethical Hacker at EC Council in London. The passion for writing and a strong belief that security is founded on sharing and awareness led Pierluigi to find the security blog "Security Affairs" recently named a Top National Security Resource for US. Pierluigi is a member of the "The Hacker News" team and he is a writer for some major publications in the field such as Cyber War Zone, ICTTF, Infosec Island, Infosec Institute, The Hacker News Magazine and for many other Security magazines. Author of the Books "The Deep Dark Web" and “Digital Virtual Currency and Bitcoin”.





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