CVE-2021-22015 is a local privilege escalation vulnerability in VMware vCenter Server and Cloud Foundation, stemming from improper file and directory permissions. An authenticated, non-administrative local user can exploit this to gain root privileges on the vCenter Server Appliance. With a CVSS score of 7.8 (High), this vulnerability has a low attack complexity and no user interaction, allowing for high impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability. While not listed on CISA's KEV catalog, a Metasploit module exists for exploitation, and it has garnered some community discussion and media coverage.
| Vendor | Product | Version(s) | CPE |
|---|---|---|---|
>= 3.0, < 5.0CPE matchmatch criteria | cpe:2.3:a:vmware:cloud_foundation:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | ||
6.5CPE matchmatch criteria | cpe:2.3:a:vmware:vcenter_server:6.5:-:*:*:*:*:*:* | ||
6.7CPE matchmatch criteria | cpe:2.3:a:vmware:vcenter_server:6.7:-:*:*:*:*:*:* | ||
7.0CPE matchmatch criteria | cpe:2.3:a:vmware:vcenter_server:7.0:-:*:*:*:*:*:* |
CVSS version used by this source: 3.1
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
The average CVE in this peer group has 0.0 Twitter, 0.1 Reddit, 0.2 Bluesky, 0.1 Mastodon, and 0.2 GitHub mentions.
The average CVE in this peer group has 0.3 InfoSec Media, 0.0 Vendor Blog, and 0.0 Security Researcher mentions.