• VMware vCenter Server (vCenter Server)
• VMware Cloud Foundation (Cloud Foundation)

Multiple vulnerabilities in VMware vCenter Server were privately reported to VMware. Updates are available to remediate these vulnerabilities in affected VMware products.

The vCenter Server contains an arbitrary file upload vulnerability in the Analytics service. VMware has evaluated the severity of this issue to be in the Critical severity range with a maximum CVSSv3 base score of 9.8.

A malicious actor with network access to port 443 on vCenter Server may exploit this issue to execute code on vCenter Server by uploading a specially crafted file.

To remediate CVE-2021-22005 apply the updates listed in the 'Fixed Version' column of the 'Response Matrix' below to affected deployments.

Workarounds for CVE-2021-22005 have been listed in the 'Workarounds' column of the 'Response Matrix' below.

A supplemental blog post was created for additional clarification. Please see: https://github.com/vmware/vcf-security-and-compliance-guidelines/tree/main/security-advisories/vmsa-2021-0020

• VMware has confirmed reports that CVE-2021-22005 is being exploited in the wild.
• This issue does not affect vCenter Server 6.5.

VMware would like to thank George Noseevich (@webpentest) and Sergey Gerasimov of SolidLab LLC for reporting this issue to us.

The vCenter Server contains a local privilege escalation vulnerability due to the way it handles session tokens. VMware has evaluated the severity of this issue to be in the Important severity range with a maximum CVSSv3 base score of 8.8.

A malicious actor with non-administrative user access on vCenter Server host may exploit this issue to escalate privileges to Administrator on the vSphere Client (HTML5) or vCenter Server vSphere Web Client (FLEX/Flash).

To remediate CVE-2021-21991 apply the updates listed in the 'Fixed Version' column of the 'Response Matrix' below to affected deployments.

None.

A supplemental blog post was created for additional clarification. Please see: https://github.com/vmware/vcf-security-and-compliance-guidelines/tree/main/security-advisories/vmsa-2021-0020

None.

VMware would like to thank Hynek Petrak of Schneider Electric for reporting this issue to us.

The vCenter Server contains a reverse proxy bypass vulnerability due to the way the endpoints handle the URI. VMware has evaluated the severity of this issue to be in the Important severity range with a maximum CVSSv3 base score of 8.3.

A malicious actor with network access to port 443 on vCenter Server may exploit this issue to access restricted endpoints.

To remediate CVE-2021-22006 apply the updates listed in the 'Fixed Version' column of the 'Response Matrix' below to affected deployments.

None.

A supplemental blog post was created for additional clarification. Please see: https://github.com/vmware/vcf-security-and-compliance-guidelines/tree/main/security-advisories/vmsa-2021-0020

This issue does not affect vCenter Server 6.5.

VMware would like to thank George Noseevich (@webpentest) and Sergey Gerasimov of SolidLab LLC for reporting this issue to us.

The vCenter Server contains an unauthenticated API endpoint vulnerability in vCenter Server Content Library. VMware has evaluated the severity of this issue to be in the Important severity range with a maximum CVSSv3 base score of 8.1.

A malicious actor with network access to port 443 on vCenter Server may exploit this issue to perform unauthenticated VM network setting manipulation.

To remediate CVE-2021-22011 apply the updates listed in the 'Fixed Version' column of the 'Response Matrix' below to affected deployments.

None.

A supplemental blog post was created for additional clarification. Please see: https://github.com/vmware/vcf-security-and-compliance-guidelines/tree/main/security-advisories/vmsa-2021-0020

None.

VMware would like to thank George Noseevich (@webpentest) and Sergey Gerasimov of SolidLab LLC for reporting this issue to us.

The vCenter Server contains multiple local privilege escalation vulnerabilities due to improper permissions of files and directories. VMware has evaluated the severity of these issues to be in the Important severity range with a maximum CVSSv3 base score of 7.8.

An authenticated local user with non-administrative privilege may exploit these issues to elevate their privileges to root on vCenter Server Appliance.

To remediate CVE-2021-22015 apply the updates listed in the 'Fixed Version' column of the 'Response Matrix' below to affected deployments.

None.

A supplemental blog post was created for additional clarification. Please see: https://github.com/vmware/vcf-security-and-compliance-guidelines/tree/main/security-advisories/vmsa-2021-0020

None.

VMware would like to thank Yuval Lazar (@Ul7raVi0l3t) of Pentera, Sergey Gerasimov and George webpentest Noseevich of Solidlab working with Trend Micro Zero Day Initiative for independently reporting these issues to us.

The vCenter Server contains an information disclosure vulnerability due to an unauthenticated appliance management API. VMware has evaluated the severity of this issue to be in the Important severity range with a maximum CVSSv3 base score of 7.5.

A malicious actor with network access to port 443 on vCenter Server may exploit this issue to gain access to sensitive information.

To remediate CVE-2021-22012 apply the updates listed in the 'Fixed Version' column of the 'Response Matrix' below to affected deployments.

None.

A supplemental blog post was created for additional clarification. Please see: https://github.com/vmware/vcf-security-and-compliance-guidelines/tree/main/security-advisories/vmsa-2021-0020

This issue affects only vCenter Server 6.5.

VMware would like to thank George Noseevich (@webpentest) and Sergey Gerasimov of SolidLab LLC for reporting this issue to us.

The vCenter Server contains a file path traversal vulnerability leading to information disclosure in the appliance management API. VMware has evaluated the severity of this issue to be in the Important severity range with a maximum CVSSv3 base score of 7.5.

A malicious actor with network access to port 443 on vCenter Server may exploit this issue to gain access to sensitive information.

To remediate CVE-2021-22013 apply the updates listed in the 'Fixed Version' column of the 'Response Matrix' below to affected deployments.

None.

A supplemental blog post was created for additional clarification. Please see: https://github.com/vmware/vcf-security-and-compliance-guidelines/tree/main/security-advisories/vmsa-2021-0020

This issue affects only vCenter Server 6.5. 

VMware would like to thank George Noseevich (@webpentest) and Sergey Gerasimov of SolidLab LLC for reporting this issue to us.

The vCenter Server contains a reflected cross-site scripting vulnerability due to a lack of input sanitization. VMware has evaluated the severity of this issue to be in the Important severity range with a maximum CVSSv3 base score of 7.5.

An attacker may exploit this issue to execute malicious scripts by tricking a victim into clicking a malicious link.

To remediate CVE-2021-22016 apply the updates listed in the 'Fixed Version' column of the 'Response Matrix' below to affected deployments.

None.

A supplemental blog post was created for additional clarification. Please see: https://github.com/vmware/vcf-security-and-compliance-guidelines/tree/main/security-advisories/vmsa-2021-0020

This issue affects only vCenter Server 6.7.

VMware would like to thank icez for reporting this issue to us.

Rhttproxy as used in vCenter Server contains a vulnerability due to improper implementation of URI normalization. VMware has evaluated the severity of this issue to be in the Important severity range with a maximum CVSSv3 base score of 7.3.

A malicious actor with network access to port 443 on vCenter Server may exploit this issue to bypass proxy leading to internal endpoints being accessed.  

To remediate CVE-2021-22017 apply the updates listed in the 'Fixed Version' column of the 'Response Matrix' below to affected deployments.

None.

A supplemental blog post was created for additional clarification. Please see: https://github.com/vmware/vcf-security-and-compliance-guidelines/tree/main/security-advisories/vmsa-2021-0020

This issue does not affect vCenter Server 7.0.

VMware would like to thank George Noseevich (@webpentest) and Sergey Gerasimov of SolidLab LLC for reporting this issue to us.

The vCenter Server contains an authenticated code execution vulnerability in VAMI (Virtual Appliance Management Infrastructure). VMware has evaluated the severity of this issue to be in the Important severity range with a maximum CVSSv3 base score of 7.2.

An authenticated VAMI user with network access to port 5480 on vCenter Server may exploit this issue to execute code on the underlying operating system that hosts vCenter Server.

To remediate CVE-2021-22014 apply the updates listed in the 'Fixed Version' column of the 'Response Matrix' below to affected deployments.

None.

A supplemental blog post was created for additional clarification. Please see: https://github.com/vmware/vcf-security-and-compliance-guidelines/tree/main/security-advisories/vmsa-2021-0020

None.

VMware would like to thank George Noseevich (@webpentest) and Sergey Gerasimov of SolidLab LLC for reporting this issue to us.

The vCenter Server contains an arbitrary file deletion vulnerability in a VMware vSphere Life-cycle Manager plug-in. VMware has evaluated the severity of this issue to be in the Moderate severity range with a maximum CVSSv3 base score of 6.5.

A malicious actor with network access to port 9087 on vCenter Server may exploit this issue to delete non critical files.

To remediate CVE-2021-22018 apply the updates listed in the 'Fixed Version' column of the 'Response Matrix' below to affected deployments.

None.

A supplemental blog post was created for additional clarification. Please see: https://github.com/vmware/vcf-security-and-compliance-guidelines/tree/main/security-advisories/vmsa-2021-0020

This issue affects only vCenter Server 7.0.

VMware would like to thank Sergey Gerasimov of Solidlab working with Trend Micro Zero Day Initiative for reporting this issue to us.

The vCenter Server contains a denial-of-service vulnerability due to improper XML entity parsing. VMware has evaluated the severity of this issue to be in the Moderate severity range with a maximum CVSSv3 base score of 6.5.

A malicious actor with non-administrative user access to the vCenter Server vSphere Client (HTML5) or vCenter Server vSphere Web Client (FLEX/Flash) may exploit this issue to create a denial-of-service condition on the vCenter Server host.

To remediate CVE-2021-21992 apply the updates listed in the 'Fixed Version' column of the 'Response Matrix' below to affected deployments.

None.

A supplemental blog post was created for additional clarification. Please see: https://github.com/vmware/vcf-security-and-compliance-guidelines/tree/main/security-advisories/vmsa-2021-0020

None.

VMware would like to thank Osama Alaa of Malcrove for reporting this issue to us.

The vCenter Server contains a local information disclosure vulnerability in the Analytics service. VMware has evaluated the severity of this issue to be in the Moderate severity range with a maximum CVSSv3 base score of 5.5.

An authenticated user with non-administrative privilege may exploit this issue to gain access to sensitive information.

To remediate CVE-2021-22007 apply the updates listed in the 'Fixed Version' column of the 'Response Matrix' below to affected deployments.

None.

A supplemental blog post was created for additional clarification. Please see: https://github.com/vmware/vcf-security-and-compliance-guidelines/tree/main/security-advisories/vmsa-2021-0020

This issues does not affect vCenter server 6.5.

VMware would like to thank George Noseevich (@webpentest) and Sergey Gerasimov of SolidLab LLC for reporting this issue to us.

The vCenter Server contains a denial-of-service vulnerability in VAPI (vCenter API) service. VMware has evaluated the severity of this issue to be in the Moderate severity range with a maximum CVSSv3 base score of 5.3.

A malicious actor with network access to port 5480 on vCenter Server may exploit this issue by sending a specially crafted jsonrpc message to create a denial of service condition.

To remediate CVE-2021-22019 apply the updates listed in the 'Fixed Version' column of the 'Response Matrix' below to affected deployments.

None.

A supplemental blog post was created for additional clarification. Please see: https://github.com/vmware/vcf-security-and-compliance-guidelines/tree/main/security-advisories/vmsa-2021-0020

None.

VMware would like to thank Sergey Gerasimov and George webpentest Noseevich of Solidlab working with Trend Micro Zero Day Initiative for reporting these issues to us.

The vCenter Server contains multiple denial-of-service vulnerabilities in VAPI (vCenter API) service.VMware has evaluated the severity of these issues to be in the Moderate severity range with a maximum CVSSv3 base score of 5.3.

A malicious actor with network access to port 443 on vCenter Server may exploit these issues to create a denial of service condition due to excessive memory consumption by VAPI service.

To remediate CVE-2021-22009 apply the updates listed in the 'Fixed Version' column of the 'Response Matrix' below to affected deployments.

None.

A supplemental blog post was created for additional clarification. Please see: https://github.com/vmware/vcf-security-and-compliance-guidelines/tree/main/security-advisories/vmsa-2021-0020

None.

VMware would like to thank Sergey Gerasimov and George webpentest Noseevich of Solidlab working with Trend Micro Zero Day Initiative for reporting these issues to us.

The vCenter Server contains a denial-of-service vulnerability in VPXD (Virtual Provisioning X Daemon) service. VMware has evaluated the severity of this issue to be in the Moderate severity range with a maximum CVSSv3 base score of 5.3.

A malicious actor with network access to port 443 on vCenter Server may exploit this issue to create a denial of service condition due to excessive memory consumption by VPXD service.

To remediate CVE-2021-22010 apply the updates listed in the 'Fixed Version' column of the 'Response Matrix' below to affected deployments.

None.

A supplemental blog post was created for additional clarification. Please see: https://github.com/vmware/vcf-security-and-compliance-guidelines/tree/main/security-advisories/vmsa-2021-0020

This issues does not affect vCenter server 6.5.

VMware would like to thank George Noseevich (@webpentest) and Sergey Gerasimov of SolidLab LLC for reporting this issue to us.

The vCenter Server contains an information disclosure vulnerability in VAPI (vCenter API) service.VMware has evaluated the severity of this issue to be in the Moderate severity range with a maximum CVSSv3 base score of 5.3.

A malicious actor with network access to port 443 on vCenter Server may exploit this issue by sending a specially crafted jsonrpc message to gain access to sensitive information.

To remediate CVE-2021-22008 apply the updates listed in the 'Fixed Version' column of the 'Response Matrix' below to affected deployments.

None.

A supplemental blog post was created for additional clarification. Please see: https://github.com/vmware/vcf-security-and-compliance-guidelines/tree/main/security-advisories/vmsa-2021-0020

None.

VMware would like to thank Sergey Gerasimov and George webpentest Noseevich of Solidlab working with Trend Micro Zero Day Initiative for reporting this issue to us.

The vCenter Server contains a denial-of-service vulnerability in the Analytics service. VMware has evaluated the severity of this issue to be in the Moderate severity range with a maximum CVSSv3 base score of 5.0.

Successful exploitation of this issue may allow an attacker to create a denial-of-service condition on vCenter Server.

To remediate CVE-2021-22020 apply the updates listed in the 'Fixed Version' column of the 'Response Matrix' below to affected deployments.

None.

A supplemental blog post was created for additional clarification. Please see: https://github.com/vmware/vcf-security-and-compliance-guidelines/tree/main/security-advisories/vmsa-2021-0020

This issue does not affect vCenter Server 6.5.

VMware would like to thank George Noseevich (@webpentest) and Sergey Gerasimov of SolidLab LLC for reporting this issue to us.

The vCenter Server contains an SSRF (Server Side Request Forgery) vulnerability due to improper validation of URLs in vCenter Server Content Library. VMware has evaluated the severity of this issue to be in the Moderate severity range with a maximum CVSSv3 base score of 4.3.

An authorised user with access to content library may exploit this issue by sending a POST request to vCenter Server leading to information disclosure.

To remediate CVE-2021-21993 apply the updates listed in the 'Fixed Version' column of the 'Response Matrix' below to affected deployments.

None.

A supplemental blog post was created for additional clarification. Please see: https://github.com/vmware/vcf-security-and-compliance-guidelines/tree/main/security-advisories/vmsa-2021-0020

None.

VMware would like to thank Osama Alaa of Malcrove and vitquay of Vantage Point Security for independently reporting this issue to us.

Fixed Version(s) and Release Notes:

vCenter Server 7.0 U2d
Downloads and Documentation:
https://customerconnect.vmware.com/downloads/details?downloadGroup=VC70U2D&productId=974&rPId=74352
https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-vSphere/7.0/rn/vsphere-vcenter-server-70u2d-release-notes.html

vCenter Server 6.7 U3o
Downloads and Documentation:
https://customerconnect.vmware.com/downloads/details?downloadGroup=VC67U3O&productId=742&rPId=73667
https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-vSphere/6.7/rn/vsphere-vcenter-server-67u3o-release-notes.html

vCenter Server 6.5 U3q
Downloads and Documentation:
https://customerconnect.vmware.com/downloads/details?downloadGroup=VC65U3Q&productId=614&rPId=74057
https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-vSphere/6.5/rn/vsphere-vcenter-server-65u3q-release-notes.html

VMware vCloud Foundation 4.3.1
Downloads and Documentation:
https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Cloud-Foundation/4.3.1/rn/VMware-Cloud-Foundation-431-Release-Notes.html

VMware vCloud Foundation 3.10.2.2
Downloads and Documentation:
https://docs.vmware.com/en/VMware-Cloud-Foundation/3.10.2/rn/VMware-Cloud-Foundation-3102-Release-Notes.html

Mitre CVE Dictionary Links:
https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2021-21991
https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2021-21992
https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2021-21993
https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2021-22005
https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2021-22006
https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2021-22007
https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2021-22008
https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2021-22009
https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2021-22010
https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2021-22011
https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2021-22012
https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2021-22013
https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2021-22014
https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2021-22015
https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2021-22016
https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2021-22017
https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2021-22018
https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2021-22019
https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2021-22020

FIRST CVSSv3 Calculator:
CVE-2021-21991: https://www.first.org/cvss/calculator/3.1#CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
CVE-2021-21992: https://www.first.org/cvss/calculator/3.1#CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
CVE-2021-21993: https://www.first.org/cvss/calculator/3.1#CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N
CVE-2021-22005: https://www.first.org/cvss/calculator/3.1#CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
CVE-2021-22006: https://www.first.org/cvss/calculator/3.1#CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:L
CVE-2021-22007: https://www.first.org/cvss/calculator/3.1#CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
CVE-2021-22008: https://www.first.org/cvss/calculator/3.1#CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N
CVE-2021-22009: https://www.first.org/cvss/calculator/3.1#CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L
CVE-2021-22010: https://www.first.org/cvss/calculator/3.1#CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L
CVE-2021-22011: https://www.first.org/cvss/calculator/3.1#CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:H
CVE-2021-22012: https://www.first.org/cvss/calculator/3.1#CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
CVE-2021-22013: https://www.first.org/cvss/calculator/3.1#CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
CVE-2021-22014: https://www.first.org/cvss/calculator/3.1#CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
CVE-2021-22015: https://www.first.org/cvss/calculator/3.1#CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
CVE-2021-22016: https://www.first.org/cvss/calculator/3.1#CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
CVE-2021-22017: https://www.first.org/cvss/calculator/3.1#CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L
CVE-2021-22018: https://www.first.org/cvss/calculator/3.1#CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:L
CVE-2021-22019: https://www.first.org/cvss/calculator/3.1#CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L
CVE-2021-22020: https://www.first.org/cvss/calculator/3.1#CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

2021-09-21 VMSA-2021-0020
Initial security advisory.

2021-09-24 VMSA-2021-0020.1
Updated advisory with an alert that VMware has confirmed reports that CVE-2021-22005 is being exploited in the wild.

2025-12-05 VMSA-2021-0020.2
Updated advisory with the new supplemental blog aka FAQ url.

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[email protected]  

[email protected]  

[email protected] 

E-mail: [email protected]

PGP key at:

https://kb.vmware.com/kb/1055 

VMware Security Advisories

https://www.vmware.com/security/advisories 

VMware Security Response Policy

https://www.vmware.com/support/policies/security_response.html 

VMware Lifecycle Support Phases

https://www.vmware.com/support/policies/lifecycle.html 

VMware Security & Compliance Blog  

https://blogs.vmware.com/security 

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https://twitter.com/VMwareSRC

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